USC win over Washington is more impressive due to Vince Iwuchukwu foul trouble
The USC Trojans entered Saturday night’s game against the Washington Huskies knowing that Joshua Morgan would not be able to play. The big man got injured early in Thursday’s win over Washington State. With Morgan out, it became imperative that Vince Iwuchukwu stay on the floor to hold down the fort on defense and on the glass.
That did not happen.
Iwuchukwu played only 10 minutes against Washington, saddled by foul trouble. He picked up two fouls in the first nine minutes and sat for the last 11 minutes of the first half. He got a third foul fairly early in the second half and then a fourth foul midway through the second half. USC was extremely fortunate that Washington big man Braxton Meah fouled out on the same play in which Iwuchukwu picked up his fourth foul. If Meah had stayed on the floor, USC would have been in a ton of trouble.
Even then, the Trojans didn’t exactly have a picnic lunch on Saturday. They did trail with under five minutes left in regulation before rallying to win.
Consider it a lesson for Vince the Prince, the young talent who has been thrown into the fire of a college basketball season in conference play, receiving a crash course in how to handle the speed of college hoops without being able to slowly settle in.
Had Iwuchukwu not suffered an episode of cardiac arrest, he would have had a full offseason of workouts. He would have had a full amount of fall practices. He would have been able to play in November and December, getting a lot of work against comparatively more manageable opponents. He would have been able to ramp up for the Pac-12 season. Under the current circumstances, Iwuchukwu’s game against Washington was just the seventh of his USC career.
The seventh game of this USC season — which would have been Iwuchukwu’s seventh game had he been healthy — was the Wisconsin Battle 4 Atlantis game in late November. That’s how far behind Iwuchukwu is in his development due to his health concerns. He was bound to have a game like this. He’s going to have at least one more at some point.
This is the education of Vince Iwuchukwu as a college basketball player. A freshman is learning the ropes, and it will be fascinating to see how he adjusts in the near future.
Meanwhile, it’s so hugely impressive that his USC teammates were able to pick him up. That bodes well for the next time this happens, although if it happens against Arizona (which plays USC in early March in the Galen Center) or UCLA (in the Pac-12 Tournament, perhaps), that could be a blow USC won’t recover from.
Big picture: USC learned a lot about itself against Washington, and didn’t lose. This team continues to show toughness, resilience, and resourcefulness. Vince Iwuchukwu’s college education took a big step forward.
