USC post defense a concern even after win over Washington

LOS ANGELES — USC beat Washington 80-74 on Saturday night. A Kobe Johnson 3-pointer put USC up with 3:28 to play, then another by the sophomore guard with just over two minutes left gave USC the necessary distance to close the win.

But rather than focus on why USC won, it’s more informative for the long-term outlook of the Trojans to examine why they struggled to close out a team at the Galen Center that they beat by 13 on the road a month ago.

Starting center Joshua Morgan was on the sidelines with a walking boot on his right foot after an ankle injury against Washington State Thursday. Sixth man Reese Dixon-Waters was also out with a leg injury, but USC (17-6, 9-3 in Pac-12) had the wing depth to withstand his absence.

In the post, however, was a different story. Morgan’s absence set the stage for freshman Vincent Iwuchukwu to make his first career start, seven months after the former five-star recruit suffered cardiac arrest.

But after a layup on the first possession of the game, Iwuchukwu was beat badly on consecutive defensive possessions. The first ended in a Braxton Meah dunk, then Iwuchukwu fouled the center on the next possession after again being out of position.

Two minutes into the game, and coach Andy Enfield turned to raw freshman Iaroslav Niagu, who was clearly outmatched by Meah. After a particularly bad breakdown by Niagu, Enfield called a timeout and inserted Iwuchukwu back into the lineup.

Again, the freshman looked out of sorts. He lost his man on a pick-and-roll and Meah was on an island under the rim for a dunk. Then Iwuchukwu threw Meah out of the way on an entry pass and went to the bench with his second foul.

Enfield had to alternate the rest of the half between forward Harrison Hornery at the five and five-guard lineups when Hornery got in foul trouble. Meah picked up his second and third fouls on consecutive possessions, which helped limit the damage and allowed USC to go on a 17-2 run to take control of the game.

“To me, it looked like an AAU game at times,” said Enfield, who won his 200th game as Trojans coach Saturday.

Once Meah got back on the court, he scored on the opening possession of the second half before Keyon Menifield drove to the rim for a layup. Then Meah backed Iwuchukwu all the way down below the basket and completed a dunk to put Washington (13-12, 5-9) back ahead while scoring the first 10 points of the half.

USC didn’t get any momentum back until Meah left the court with his fourth foul, and then fouled out with 8:07 to go.

USC had plenty of highlights in Saturday’s win. Freshman Tre White had a career-high 22 points. Johnson scored 21 to go with five assists and four steals. And Hornery was effective with a team-high plus-18 in his 19 minutes, largely with Meah on the bench.

But Saturday was a reminder of USC’s overall post issues. Washington scored 32 in the paint and was able to draw fouls at the rim to get 25 free throws.

Depth has been a concern at center all year, though they were mitigated by Iwuchukwu’s debut last month. But with Morgan out for an indefinite period of time, USC is left to rely on young or undersized options at center.

With games against a desperate Oregon team featuring star center Nfaly Dante and Oregon State’s dynamic frontcourt coming up next week, USC doesn’t have much time to find answers.

“To be a great post defender, it’s not about pushing and shoving match. That’s the first thing we’re going to show [Iwuchukwu and Niagu],” Enfield said. “You gotta use your feet and stay off their body. … They have to learn to do a little bit better job and then when someone does get the ball you’ve got to give more resistance so they don’t back you down and put the ball in.”