USC spoils Bronny James’ college basketball debut with OT loss to Long Beach
The arrival of Bronny James as a USC Trojan and a college basketball player gave the USC community a lot of hope on Sunday afternoon. Here was a player who would give the Trojans more quality, more depth, more star power, and perhaps most of all, more excitement. The Galen Center was alive for this game. Everyone wanted to see Bronny play. Everyone wanted to see LeBron James cheering on his son from the front row. Los Angeles loves its stars, in sports or the movies or other high-profile theaters of activity. Bronny James was going to make USC better, but he was also going to make the Trojans a bigger basketball brand. At least, that was the hope.
Bronny did his part on Sunday against Long Beach State. Playing with a minutes restriction because his health needs to be monitored after his cardiac arrest from July, Bronny gave USC 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 asissts, and a blocked shot in 17 productive minutes. It’s all the Trojans could have asked for.
With Bronny playing well, USC got off to a strong start and built a 45-30 halftime lead in a buy game. This should have been a drama-free day.
Improbably, it not only turned into a close overtime game; it turned into a loss.
Long Beach State beat USC 84-79, dealing a major setback to the Trojans and ruining the festive atmosphere at the Galen Center. A day which should have been memorable for all the right reasons turned into a day of defeat and frustration.
USC missed 16 of 36 free throws — nearly half — and Isaiah Collier missed 7 of 12 foul shots for a team which simply couldn’t shoot well. USC’s free throw problem was compounded by its 3-point shooting problem. USC finished 7 of 31 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, the Trojans committed entirely too many turnovers — 19 — and allowed 40 free throw attempts to Long Beach State.
It was a complete disaster on a day which should have belonged to Bronny James. USC and head coach Andy Enfield let down their young star.
USC basketball needs to find a way to not become a total disappointment this season. Grim times exist for a program which was supposed to be excellent, but isn’t even moderately good right now.
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