By Mykell Mathieu
LOS ANGELES — USC jumped out to an early lead but couldn’t hold on in overtime to Long Beach State losing 84-79 to spoil Bronny James’ college debut.
James was in the lineup today for the first time since suffering cardiac arrest in June. Bronny’s superstar father , LeBron James, was in the building to show his support the day after winning the NBA In-Season Tournament championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.
James finished the game with four points, three rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. James came off the bench playing limited minutes for the Trojans.
Like father, like son: James biggest highlight play of the game came when he recorded a huge chase down block to ignite the sold out Galen Center crowd.
“He’s built for this,” said USC senior guard Boogie Ellis.
“Extra spotlight or eyeballs, sometimes that comes with a guy like Bronny, but we have to get better as a basketball team and he has to keep improving as an individual player — that’s what we’re focused on,” said coach Andy Enfield. “We don’t focus on the amount of media that are here in this room.”
Early on it looked like a game USC would dominate and the crowd would be celebrating a win along with the return of James but that wasn’t the case.
The Trojans led by 15 points at the half, 45-30. The defense was playing well and the team was knocking down open shots. In the second half all of that changed.
The Trojans were outscored 54-34 in the second half including overtime. USC finished the game shooting seven for 31 from three and a very disappointing 20 for 36 from the foul line.
Fabulous freshman Isaiah Collier, finished the game with 15 points and five steals. He himself was 5-12 from the free throw line.
Ellis had his worst shooting night of this season, shooting 4 for 14. He finished with 14 points and 4 assists.
The second half was dominated by Long Beach State senior Marcus Tsohonis who erupted for 23 second-half points to help pull off the upset.
USC now prepare to take their show on the road to get back to their winning ways.
The Trojans will travel to face Auburn on December 17th which will be the beginning of their four-game road trip.
