USC uses defense to dispatch Cal State Fullerton

LOS ANGELES — The USC offense has been anything but predictable this season. It can disappear on certain nights, or even in the midst of what seemed to be a strong start, as it did in the first half on Wednesday night against Cal State Fullerton.

But one thing the Trojans have proven they can do on a consistent basis is defend, and it was their defense that carried the day as they beat the Titans, 64-50, at the Galen Center.

USC (7-3) held Fullerton (4-5) to 32.8% shooting on Wednesday and a 6-for-22 mark from 3-point range. The Trojans forced 17 turnovers on nine steals that turned into 22 USC points and blocked four shots.

“We have a tradition of defense here the last three or four years,” USC head coach Andy Enfield said. “Our players play hard, they know where to be defensively, they cover for each other.”

Guard Tre White led USC with a career-high 16 points while Kobe Johnson added 14. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led the Titans with 17 points and six rebounds.

The freshman White went 6 for 9 from the field with six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“He’s very coachable,” Enfield said. “You can say whatever you need to say to Tre to get your point across and he’s going to take it and get better.”

USC built itself an early lead. A Josh Morgan layup followed by a Drew Peterson steal and dunk and a Johnson second-chance 3-pointer had the Trojans up 7-0 before Fullerton even attempted a second field goal.

A couple of layups from White, who opened the game 5 for 5 from the field, had USC up 14-0 as Fullerton’s shots repeatedly bounced off the side of the rim. The Titans opened the game 0 for 6 from the floor before Tory San Antonio’s 3-pointer ended the cold streak.

But the Titans kept chipping away, scoring 10 points off USC’s nine first-half turnovers and holding USC scoreless for 4:41. Jalen Harris completed a circus shot three-point play and Vincent Lee made a layup under the basket to make it a six-point game with two minutes left in the first half.

The Trojan offense caught up after halftime. Peterson hit a couple of free throws, then flicked a pass to Johnson as he drove in for a layup. A 3-pointer from Peterson, who scored only two points in the first half, pushed USC’s lead up to 14 again.

Meanwhile, after a 27.6% shooting performance from the field in the first half, Fullerton only managed 37.9% in the second. The Titans struggled to find ways to attack USC as it vacillated between man-to-man and zone looks. To make matters worse, Fullerton converted its 12 offensive rebounds into only six points.

“We’re just trying to find ourselves. There’s a lot of good things out there, there’s a lot of not-so-good things out there,” Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor said. “There were some moments where we were able to play hard and execute, but USC’s length and athleticism really bothered us.”

But, as we went over at the top, the Trojan offense likes to disappear. So after USC extended its lead to a game-high 23 points, the Titans went on a 10-0 run behind a pair of second-chance buckets and a driving layup by Wrightsell.

But a White layup off an in-bounds pass from Johnson and a Johnson 3-pointer courtesy of Peterson helped USC close out the game.