Who we are ... No, I don't expect us to compete for a natty. We were even with Washington State, and have struggled at times. But - this team is better than I thought, and what the pundits thought. They are well-coached, and most importantly, have this fight and taking care of business attitude. And they almost seem to be growing up before our eyes - they incrementally look better each game. It's crazy. Most teams have ups and downs, this team just seems on a gradual uptrend. I hope it continues.

Regardless, this is a down Pac-12. UCLA's sole impressive win over Villanova looks less impressive with each game, and I think Arizona has been the beneficiary of an easy schedule. I'm not saying there won't be struggles, and I don't expect us to go undefeated in Pac-12 play, but I think it's 1a UCLA and 1b USC for Pac-12 title.

I wonder where this more mature team with Boogie on the perimeter would be with Evan Mobley ....

I know a win is a win but that was an undisciplined all-around performance. While the starters calmed down after the comedy of errors, the too-many turnovers are concerning. I kinda wonder how many points EKU scored off our blunders. The ongoing inability to hit free-throws will undoubtedly influence upcoming opponents to contest shots more aggressively to force us to score from the line. We're lucky we didn't send them to the line more, given their reliability (I don't know if I've ever seen a team make all FTs on double-digits attempts). The (almost) all-freshman team that Enfield experimented with late let the Colonels make it more of a game than it needed to be by allowing that 11-0 run. It's a wonder they only made one more trey than we did on 14 more attempts. I still see unnecessary selfishness and poor shot selection from some guys who should know better by now, but I think it gets obscured when they knock the shots down. Frankly, EKU never should've had the opportunity to outscore USC in the second half. But the Colonials really heated up, by penetrating more effectively and especially by damn-near-doubling their percentage of made three-pointers, while we stagnated. I probably shouldn't complain when we shoot over 50% from the field in both halves, but I do feel like we had less help bringing the ball down and also we weren't moving to the ball as much in our offensive flow. I feel like we should've tried to push the pace a bit more and make them play our transition game. Remember, this EKU team was playing a little shorthanded, missing two starters due to issues with mask compliance during travel apparently. I hope our guys realize they are not infallible and make the necessary corrections.

All that said, I have nothing but praise for Isaiah and his incredibly efficient performance with a career-high in points as part of another double-double to carry this team. Chevez was remarkable in going 6-6 from the field, and he consistently demonstrates how he can really take over a game (after the game I suggested he look into visual imagery for the free-throw woes). I can't say enough about Max's development into a well-rounded player; though admittedly there were a couple open looks he passed on after the early misses from outside. Josh always seems to be in the right position on both sides of the ball and specifically he has a lot of body control as a defender; I was quietly hoping he'd get 1 more bucket. Reese is showing some flashes too, and there's plenty of room for improvement.

It's a testament to the depth of this team that we withstood Boogie's 0-10, but he only had 3 shot attempts inside the arc; I would've liked to see him get going with an inside bucket to build his confidence. It's the second game now that he hasn't been quite locked into his offensive game, but it's also remarkable that he doesn't force it too hard, instead elevating his teammates and giving them opportunities. Lesser players might not possess the patience to let the game come back to them.

Still, we can't play that way against Pac-12 opponents who would be all-to-happy to remind USC we're not a basketball school. I admit I'd thought this team had finally learned how to play with the lead by driving in the dagger, but maybe it's good having this experience this (relatively) early in the season, what with seeing what was a comfortable lead come close to slipping away. On the upside, we share the ball well generally and in most cases egos are tempered. Which is great to know for when this team gets into tight situations, the guys can teamwork their way out of them. I think they'll solve the issues so as to avoid a letdown come conference play as we've seen in the past; I'm optimistic though that this team has the potential to build on last year.

Here's hoping EKU makes March Madness out of the Atlantic Sun Conference or whatever it is now, which will only make tonight look better in retrospect.

The context here is that 9-0 run EKU went on during those 48 seconds, preceded by a purposeful foul by Max to trigger a stop in play and subs (causing an addition two points for EKU). Without that 11-0 run, the margin is 23 — easily EKU’s biggest loss of the season and larger than the KenPom projection of 18 points.

EKU entered the game #127 in Torvik. They aren’t some horrible team SC should be beating by 40.

I don't see where I claimed USC should've been beating EKU by 40. It's interesting that's all you took from my post.

You make a few good points but I disagree with a lot of this. We were sloppy at times with the ball but EKU really speeds up the game with their tempo. They're also a very good 3 point shooting team who we shut down by switching every ball screen and using our length to our advantage. I don't agree that the foul shooting will cause teams to contest shots more aggressively. No coach has done that, and that's a good way to foul your team out. Look at Temple, they were a bunch of hacks and we dominated the first half after getting into the bonus early. Our performance for the first 56 minutes of that game would have beaten most if not all Pac 12 teams left on the schedule, the exceptions potentially being UCLA and Arizona on the road.

The abnormally good Isaiah Mobley and abnormally bad Boogie kind of cancelled each other out in this game so to speak. If there's anything really to be mad about in this game, it's the lack of intensity and defensive focus in the middle of the second half before Enfield called timeout. Guys stopped playing hard, but were refocused after. As we've detailed on several podcasts, the defensive intensity has always been there when it needed to be. The other big takeaway for me is that Malik Thomas just isn't ready to play at this level and the game is way too fast for him. Kobe Johnson is more adjusted to the speed of the game, but doesn't really give you anything on the court outside of reversing the ball and running up and down the court.

I was rushing in the morning, and typing on my iphone. Just wanted to make a point about where this performance stood in terms of performances this season and expectations based on where top teams are ranked this season.

More comprehensive thoughts:

-- Completely agree on turnovers. There were far too many and we did do a great job of taking advantage of EKU's overplays and double teams. That being said, EKU does a very, very nice job of timing their double teams and getting out of the overplays when the doubles haven't caused a turnover. They are a very disciplined bunch when it comes to that pressure defense.

-- "It's a wonder they only made one more trey than we did on 14 more attempts." I disagree here. They took a lot of very low quality looks from 3. Our looks were almost all good looks; we just blew a bunch of wide open 3s.

-- "EKU never should've had the opportunity to outscore USC in the second half. But the Colonials really heated up, by penetrating more effectively and especially by damn-near-doubling their percentage of made three-pointers, while we stagnated." There was a period of very low energy for SC about mid way through the 2nd Half.

-- "I feel like we should've tried to push the pace a bit more and make them play our transition game." The concern here is that you open the door to EKU getting some easy 3 looks in transition. Until the final 4:00, when EKU went 5/7 from 3 after the substitutions, EKU was only 5/32 from 3. SC had played very, very strong 3-point defense against a team that has the 4th highest scoring rate from 3 in the nation.

-- "Remember, this EKU team was playing a little shorthanded, missing two starters due to issues with mask compliance during travel apparently." The two players EKU was missing -- Jomaru Brown and Tariq Balogun -- aren't starters, are shooting (combined) about 37% from the field on the season, and have the two lowest KenPom Off Rating of any players in the EKU rotation. In EKU's last game against a High Major (West Virginia), those two played a total of 11 minutes and produced a total of 2 points and 2 rebounds. The only factor they would have been last night was to take a better EKU player off the court for some minutes.

-- "I have nothing but praise for Isaiah and his incredibly efficient performance with a career-high in points as part of another double-double to carry this team." Very much agreed.

-- "Chevez was remarkable in going 6-6 from the field, and he consistently demonstrates how he can really take over a game." Vez has been a revelation shooting the rock. He has, however, left me scratching my head with some of his defensive errors and poor decisions on the offensive end.

-- "I would've liked to see [Boogie] get going with an inside bucket to build his confidence." Totally agree here.

-- "We can't play that way against Pac-12 opponents who would be all-to-happy to remind USC we're not a basketball school." If you go by Torvik, which I think is a fair barometer, I think EKU is better than several Pac-12 schools.

I don't know that I'd correlate playing lackadaisical in ways that lead to turnovers to the fast tempo of EKU. These recent Trojan teams have played notably faster than in years past. Starting with last season, we've been seeing that Slam City we were promised when we plucked Enfield out of FGCU.

Let's wait and see on whether hack-a-Trojan comes to pass. If we continue making only (just-above) half our FT opportunities--we're at ~56.7% as a team, ~57.1% amongst players with at least 100 minutes so far, which is dismal, no?--I wouldn't at all be surprised to see opponents putting our team at the line more frequently, esp late in close contests. USC converted at a 74% clip last year, so I'd say that's fallen off a cliff so far.
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I would argue that Isaiah wasn't as much "abnormally good" as he was displaying leadership to pick up the slack for a player who wasn't getting the breaks. We've seen big games like that from him before. He tied his previous career-high just two games ago v Utah without making a trey (and while going 5-6 from the line) and he stepped up when Boogie was held to only one made basket in that low-scoring affair for the Wooden Legacy title v SDSU (even if that wasn't as efficient a night for him on 7-19 shooting).

When a player's feeling it, feed him, and that's what USC did.

I'll agree about Malik and Kobe (I realize it wasn't an all-freshman team that let EKU on the 11-0 run though it sure felt like it). But I can't fault Enfield for trying to work in the young'uns when the game seemed decided. They're gonna have to sink-or-swim sometime.

EKU had just come off a close loss to their in-state rivals in which 56 of their 80 points were scored from behind the arc and all but 20 of their 71 shots were three-point attempts. In fact, their 3P% so far this season is 35.7%, with a high of 48.3% on the road @ WVU. That was an area of concern that coach Mobley specifically mentioned pregame.

Shooting 5/32 from three-point range through 36 minutes was a horrifically low performance, a credit to our defense indeed. EKU's shot selection was better in the second half which, combined with the defensive lull and esp the run with just under 5 minutes left, was why they never truly went away. I think we could've at least tried to change the pace and make them run. It couldn't have gone worse than it did; if they started to get some easy buckets--which, again, they did anyway--you can call a timeout and reset (which you can do without fouling too, as long as you've got possession, right?). Which is exactly what happened when the frosh experiment fizzled.

From where I was sitting, I saw more than a couple ill-advised shots, often from the same player. I'll leave it at that. Overall, though, the team as a whole has been making better decisions, and I find myself consistently pleased by the impact of making that "one extra pass".

My mistake that Balogun isn't a regular starter--he did have two starts this season--but 'til his last three contests he was averaging almost 18 minutes. He seems to have fallen way out of favor, which may well be 'cause he's not producing in the additional opportunities he's been given or it may be disciplinary as with what happened on the plane.

But I take exception to Brown. He became a starter his freshman year averaging ~17ppg in ~25mpg while earning All-OVC Newcomer honors; started almost every game his sophomore year averaging ~20ppg (ranking fourth in scoring in the OVC) in ~30mpg while making first-team All-OVC; and was poised to continue his ascent his junior year before going down with a torn labrum. He accumulated 1000 points in his EKU career by the end of his second season. Sure, EKU changed conferences this season, and that may have changed the complexion of the program, but let's not pretend he's only ever been a depth-player. He was supposed to be a key piece of this EKU team, and he still might.

I'm genuinely interested in what specifically you mean by Chevez's poor offensive decisions. That is to say, I'm wondering if we're noticing the same thing or something different. For instance, Chevez did have 3 turnovers v EKU, tied with Isaiah and (shockingly, 'cause he's been so much improved in this area) Ethan; but Chevez is in the middle of the pack when it comes to TO/g amongst players with at least 100 minutes at 1.2, tied with Max. For reference, Drew is the worst, averaging 1.8 TO/g, and Isaiah is right behind him at 1.6 TO/g. From that standpoint only Ethan and Josh have taken care of the ball better, but ofc it's hard and unfair to compare guards and forwards, and players with differing minutes-per-game. So for fun I calculated TO/40 for all main rotation players (I don't subscribe to analytics sites for basketball, just hockey):
Reese: 0.44
Josh: 1.41
Ethan: 1.61
Boogie: 1.80
Isaiah W: 1.93
Isaiah M: 1.97
Chevez: 2.18
Max: 2.34
Drew: 2.42

I'm not denying that EKU is better than a considerable amount of the Pac-12; I 100% agree, our conference leaves a lot to be desired with a full half at or below .500 so far. It's a top-heavy conference with 1-loss UCLA, a resurgent undefeated Arizona, and USC, then everyone else. Looking at the next 2 teams in the conference standings: ​​​Wazzu lost to Eastern Washington who played Colorado close in a loss; speaking of Colorado, they lost to Southern IL. So, we'll see how EKU stacks up against FGCU in the other ASUN division soon enough. My point was that USC has a history of collapsing in Pac-12 play (last 5 years: 15-5, 11-7, 8-10, 12-6, 10-8; let's not look back further at Enfield's first seasons, it wouldn't be fair). Last season was very good, though we lost some very winnable Pac-12 games (the OSU makeup heartbreaker and a home* loss to a middling Arizona team weren't so crash-hot) and couldn't get past an overachieving Colorado for some reason (2x by double-digits to the then-unranked Buffs before that tournament semifinal meeting when they edged us to advance). I think Pac-12 teams would relish in getting an upset over what is a very talented, and more importantly cohesive, team coming off an Elite Eight appearance.