Ruben Report: Listless First Half Costs USC in Pac-12 Tournament Loss to ASU

USC ASU — Desmond Cambridge Jr. #4 of the Arizona State Sun Devils and Reese Dixon-Waters #2 of the USC Trojans react after the Trojans turned the ball over in the second half of a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 09, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Sun Devils defeated the Trojans 77-72. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The USC Trojans embarrassed themselves by playing a horrible first half. In an effort to explain the first half, Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson both said that the Devils wanted it more, and Johnson went on to add that USC came out soft. USC never led and though the final margin was 77-72 the game wasn’t that close. The Trojans can only hope that the start was late enough that most of the Selection Committee only saw the final score.

Garry Paskwietz (1966-2019)