No. 16 Southern Cal ends 7-game skid against Colorado, 61-58
AP
Jan 20, 2022
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) When Chevez Goodwin transferred to Southern California Trojans, he quickly learned about the rivalry with, and losing streak to, Colorado Buffaloes.
''I knew for a fact coming into this year, I was like, I'll be going to Boulder, personally, and I'm going to break that streak right here, right now,'' Goodwin said.
After a rough first half, Goodwin carried the 16th-ranked Trojans to their first win over the Buffaloes since 2018.
Goodwin scored all 14 of his points in the second half and grabbed 18 rebounds, Max Agbonkpolo added 11 points and hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final 15 seconds, and USC ended three years of frustration against Colorado with a 61-58 victory on Thursday night.
Isaiah Mobley had 13 points and six rebounds and Boogie Ellis overcame foul trouble to score 11 for the Trojans (15-2, 5-2 Pac-12), who had dropped seven straight to the Buffaloes (12-5, 4-3).
Goodwin's inside play was the difference.
''He was 0 for 6 with two turnovers in the first half and didn't play very well,'' USC coach Andy Enfield said of Goodwin. ''So he made his mind up in the second half to come out with the energy and he was terrific, get 18 rebounds, seven offensive, and just dominate the paint.''
Jabari Walker scored 13 points for Colorado, but he had the ball stripped away by Drew Peterson with 7 seconds left and the Buffaloes trailing by three. Evan Battey scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting and Tristan da Silva also scored 10 in Colorado's second loss in eight games.
''I thought our offense had made more strides than that, but we were playing a good USC defensive team tonight,'' Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said. ''We played really impatiently. You turn the ball over there 16 times and you don't get a shot there at the end when you need to get a good shot. That's on the coach, so I'll take the blame for that.''
USC, a 61.3% free-throw shooting team coming in, hit 12 of 17 and just enough down the stretch in its first game since tumbling 11 spots in the AP Top 25.
''You don't like to lose too many in your league. Three out of four (losses) would have been hard for us,'' Enfield said. ''But this was a big win.''
The Buffaloes were without senior guard and key defender Elijah Parquet (foot), who had started every game since December 2019. Sophomore Nique Clifford replaced him as Boyle adjusted his starting lineup for the first time this season.
Clifford had an emphatic dunk midway through the second half and his 3-pointer with 8:16 left put Colorado ahead 47-43.
Colorado was dominated inside most of the night, struggling to finish at the rim and getting outrebounded 47-32. Walker missed a layup with 41 seconds left that would have put the Buffaloes ahead.
Neither team led by more than seven points as the Trojans shot just 37% from the field. Colorado made 31% of its shots.
Enfield was booed lustily as he was introduced in what has become an increasingly tense rivalry. It dates to 2018, when Boyle said after beating Arizona that he ''absolutely'' took extra satisfaction in beating a school that was involved in an FBI corruption probe.
A week later, Enfield, whose school was also a subject of the probe, took a timeout with 21 seconds left up 12 against the Buffaloes. Boyle said he would never forget what Enfield did. Neither have Colorado fans, who gave some of their largest cheers when Enfield picked up a technical foul early in the second half.
Colorado had since dominated the series, including a victory in last year's Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.
''Take care of the ball, guard, same things that have been shooting us in the foot all season we have not fixed,'' Battey said. ''I, we, have not fixed it and we're going to try. Coach is doing all he can.''
BIG PICTURE
USC: The Trojans made the key plays down the stretch a week after frustrating losses to Stanford and Oregon. USC had lost two of three after an 13-0 start.
Colorado: The Buffaloes' flickering NCAA Tournament hopes took another hit as they fell to 0-4 against ranked teams.
UP NEXT
USC: Visits Utah on Saturday.
Colorado: Home vs. No. 9 UCLA on Saturday night.
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1st Half
USC
Trojans
25
COLO
Buffaloes
25
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
Chevez Goodwin vs. Jabari Walker (Keeshawn Barthelemy gains possession)
19:46
Drew Peterson shooting foul (Tristan da Silva draws the foul)
19:46
Tristan da Silva misses regular free throw 1 of 2
19:46
+1
Tristan da Silva makes regular free throw 2 of 2
0-1
19:18
Isaiah Mobley turnover (out of bounds)
18:56
Tristan da Silva misses two point hook shot
18:54
Chevez Goodwin defensive rebound
18:41
Chevez Goodwin misses two point hook shot
18:39
Jabari Walker defensive rebound
18:26
Isaiah Mobley blocks Nique Clifford's two point layup
18:24
Buffaloes offensive rebound
18:19
Keeshawn Barthelemy misses three point jump shot
18:17
Boogie Ellis defensive rebound
18:06
Drew Peterson misses two point jump shot
18:04
Jabari Walker defensive rebound
17:58
Tristan da Silva misses three point jump shot
17:56
Chevez Goodwin defensive rebound
17:47
Chevez Goodwin misses two point layup
17:45
Chevez Goodwin offensive rebound
17:36
+2
Boogie Ellis makes two point layup
2-1
17:17
+3
Jabari Walker makes three point jump shot (Keeshawn Barthelemy assists)
2-4
16:56
Drew Peterson turnover (traveling)
16:27
Keeshawn Barthelemy misses two point layup
16:25
Drew Peterson defensive rebound
16:20
Drew Peterson misses two point jump shot
16:17
Trojans offensive rebound
16:12
Isaiah Mobley offensive foul (Jabari Walker draws the foul)
16:12
Isaiah Mobley turnover
15:52
+2
Tristan da Silva makes two point layup (Jabari Walker assists)
2-6
15:34
Evan Battey blocks Chevez Goodwin's two point layup
15:33
Trojans offensive rebound
15:33
TV timeout
15:19
Chevez Goodwin turnover (3-second violation)
15:07
Chevez Goodwin blocks Lawson Lovering's two point layup
15:05
Chevez Goodwin defensive rebound
14:59
+3
Isaiah Mobley makes three point jump shot
5-6
14:39
Jabari Walker turnover (out of bounds)
14:18
Reese Dixon-Waters misses two point jump shot
14:16
Trojans offensive rebound
14:16
Lawson Lovering personal foul (Isaiah Mobley draws the foul)
14:15
Isaiah Mobley misses three point jump shot
14:13
Jabari Walker defensive rebound
14:07
KJ Simpson turnover (traveling)
13:53
Isaiah Mobley misses two point jump shot
13:51
Reese Dixon-Waters offensive rebound
13:42
Joshua Morgan misses two point jump shot
13:40
Reese Dixon-Waters offensive rebound
13:36
+2
Reese Dixon-Waters makes two point putback layup
7-6
13:23
+2
Keeshawn Barthelemy makes two point driving layup
7-8
13:23
Reese Dixon-Waters shooting foul (Keeshawn Barthelemy draws the foul)
13:23
+1
Keeshawn Barthelemy makes regular free throw 1 of 1
7-9
13:04
Reese Dixon-Waters misses three point jump shot
13:02
Evan Battey defensive rebound
12:41
Drew Peterson shooting foul (Evan Battey draws the foul)
12:41
Evan Battey misses regular free throw 1 of 2
12:41
+1
Evan Battey makes regular free throw 2 of 2
7-10
12:23
Julian Hammond III shooting foul (Max Agbonkpolo draws the foul)
12:23
Max Agbonkpolo misses regular free throw 1 of 2
12:23
+1
Max Agbonkpolo makes regular free throw 2 of 2
8-10
12:02
Jump ball. KJ Simpson vs. Max Agbonkpolo (Max Agbonkpolo gains possession)