Hoping everyone had a very blessed and Merry Christmas yesterday.
Bennie Boatwright just may have saved USC’s season over the Christmas holiday, delivering a clutch performance that could turn the Trojans’ campaign around, or at least will keep it from spiraling hopelessly downhill for now.
Southern California entered the Diamond Head Classic just 6-4 overall and coming off a home loss to Princeton, but the Trojans are now tourney champions after edging upstart New Mexico State 77-72 in the championship game on Christmas night. The much-needed win capped a tourney run that started out looking disastrous but by the end provides hope for a team that was expected to be a Final Four contender before the season.
Boatwright hit the game-winner with 4.1 seconds left, a long go-ahead three-pointer breaking a 72-72 tie and capping a spectacular performance. The 6-foot-10 long-range bomber scored 33 points, including 23 in the second half to carry the Trojans on his back. His six three-pointers in the game plus 7-for-7 free-throw shooting (part of the team’s perfect 14-for-14 performance) were the difference in an outstanding game.
The final score is not at all indicative of how close this game actually was. In fact, this is one the Aggies are going to rue letting get away. NMSU led most of the second half and by four with under two minutes left, but then did not score again, uncharacteristically faltering in the final minutes after being so money down the stretch in previous recent big wins over Illinois, Davidson and Miami (Fla.).
The final play saw Boatwright strike from unconscionable depth, popping out after Jordan McLaughlin dribbled right off a ball screen.
The college three-point line is increasingly becoming exposed as a joke, at least 2-3 feet too short in the game’s current form. The shot is way too easy when teams regularly hit 40-50% or better from three-point range while making 10 or more triples in a game-USC topped 50% in this game (11-for-21) and has done so three times already this year, as well as making 40% while drilling 10+ threes on four other occasions.
On the final shot, though, Boatwright fired away from 27 feet. Short of hand-checking-which is no longer allowed on the perimeter-there’s really nothing New Mexico State or any defense can do about that. Nor should they. In fact, for a tie game it wasn’t even a very good shot-USC could’ve taken the lead with a shot from five feet closer (or 20). But it went in, and that’s all that matters this morning.
Boatwright also scored 12 second-half points and 23 in the game two days before when the Trojans snuck past Middle Tennessee State in the Diamond Head semifinals. Both games could easily have been losses without his keying wins. We saw last year just how much Southern Cal struggled when Boatwright missed games, and on a team with a number of individual talents he still emerges regularly as the X-factor.
USC certainly has to feel better about its position now than where it was a few days ago, as late as halftime of its quarterfinal game against Akron, where it trailed the Zips by four points. The Trojans have shot the ball exceptionally well of late, at least 49% in each of their last six games with 10+ three-pointers in five of them.
The narrowness of victories over Middle Tennessee and New Mexico State-and the gaudy shooting numbers needed to win both-suggest all is not well yet, unless USC plans to keep shooting 53.3% from the field the rest of the year as it has over the past eight days. For now, though, the Trojans have a chance. Given the ups and downs their season has had, they’ll take it.
Side Dishes:
- Miami edged Middle Tennessee State 84-81 in the third-place game of the Diamond Head Classic. The Hurricanes came back after the Blue Raiders took an early 13-point lead. Both teams displayed some maddening offensive inconsistency in Hawaii. MTSU scored 19 points in the game’s first 6 1/2 minutes-and then eight over the next 13+ minutes. Miami scored six points over the first seven minutes, and then shot 67.4% the rest of the game, finishing at 60% from the field. Neither could miss in the second half, with the Blue Raiders shooting 61.5% but the Hurricanes even better at 72%. For Miami this was a good rebound from the loss to New Mexico State; for MTSU, this was two big missed opportunities, coming up just short against both USC and Miami, and undoubtedly defense will be addressed after allowing the two teams to shoot a combined 59%.
- Next to the two teams in the championship game, Princeton has to be the team feeling best about its play in Honolulu. The Tigers went 2-1, wrapping their event with a 77-63 win over host Hawaii. Devin Cannady scored 28 points, and Princeton has had a full last seven days: an overtime win at USC, a buzzer-beating loss to Middle Tennessee, a buzzer-beating win over Akron, and a true road victory to cap the tourney.
- In the seventh-place game, Davidson dumped Akron 91-78. Two more noted three-point firing squads, the two combined for 27 triples, but Wildcats freshman Kellan Grady was the difference with 30 points.
Today’s Menu:
- The day after Christmas is one more day without hoops over the holiday break.
Hoping all enjoy the holidays.
