Bruce Pearl says Boogie Ellis was 'the difference' in loss to USC

Auburn suffered their second loss in three games during Saturday’s 74-71 defeat in Los Angeles against USC. The Tigers had their chances with a six-point lead in the second half. However, in the end, Bruce Pearl said Boogie Ellis, the senior guard for the Trojans, was just too much over the course of the game.

Pearl spoke highly of Ellis during his postgame press conference this weekend. He said he was happy with his team’s defensive effort. Still, what Ellis was able to do offensively was simply too much for them to overcome in the loss.

“I think Boogie is a great player. And he was able to score. They need him to score to win and he did a really good job,” said Pearl. “You’ve got to guard him. I thought we did a really good job on (Drew) Peterson and the rest of them. But, obviously, Boogie was enormously the difference.”

“(He) made great one-on-one plays, made shots, and was the difference in the outcome,” Pearl said.

Ellis, who’s in his second season with USC, scored a career-high 28 points against Auburn. He was lights out as he shot 9-15 (60%) from the field along with two makes from distance. That pushed his averages on the season up to career-bests of 15.3 points per game on 42.4% shooting to go long with 2.6 assists on.

While only two other Trojans managed double figures, Ellis was able to put his team on his back in the win. Pairing that with 23 Auburn turnovers and 10 more fouls was something Pearl’s team just couldn’t overcome on the road. Now, to avoid their third loss in four games and second straight against Pac-12 competition, the Tigers will need to clean some things up before they play Washington in Seattle on Wednesday.