Joshua Morgan injured vs Washington State; other Trojans will need to step up vs Washington
USC starting big man Joshua Morgan got injured early in Thursday’s win over Washington State. Morgan played just five minutes, forcing the Trojans to scramble to find other minutes and compensate for his absence.
Andy Enfield gave six minutes to Kijani Wright, four to Harrison Hornery, and two to Iaroslav Niagu. Those 12 minutes weren’t very impactful on a night when Washington State’s Mouhamed Gueye torched the Trojans for 31 points. However, with Vince Iwuchukwu (Morgan’s backup) on a minutes restriction due to health concerns, Enfield didn’t have much of a choice.
Morgan was on crutches and his ankle was in a boot after the injury on Thursday night. It’s hard to imagine him playing on Saturday evening against Washington (6:30 p.m. local time in Los Angeles).
The good news about playing Washington is that the Huskies do not have the low-post threat posed by Gueye of Washington State. Washington relies on its guards and wing shooters for offense. The Huskies play a lot of zone defense, which opens up opportunities for opponents to rebound against Washington.
Enfield will need to find minutes for Wright and Niagu, who have a chance to develop as players and learn by doing against Washington. Neither player needs to score a single point to make a meaningful contribution to the USC rotation. As long as they can defend and rebound, they will offer something very important to the Trojans. If they can develop as defensive players as a result of getting more playing time in place of Joshua Morgan, USC could cultivate depth at a few unexpected positions on the roster heading into March.
It’s time to see what USC’s frontcourt bench looks like. It’s scary, but the Trojans really don’t have other options at this point.
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