USC stat proves how starters’ health issues doomed Andy Enfield’s squad

USC basketball entered the season with high expectations but has fallen well short of them as the regular season starts to wind down. The Trojans are a long shot to reach the NCAA tournament and will have to win the Pac-12 tournament to clinch a berth in the big dance.

Inconsistencies have derailed USC’s season and health has been an issue as well. Its initial starting five of Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Collier, Kobe Johnson, DJ Rodman and Joshua Morgan is 7-3 when they begin a game together, per USC athletics. That group started four of the Trojans’ first seven games in which USC went 5-2.

That fifth win came on Nov. 29 of last year. The Trojans are 5-14 since, including a 4-11 record in the Pac-12. Ranked as high as 16th early in the season, USC basketball has consecutive wins only once since the start of December.

USC has stayed relatively healthy with 10 players appearing in at least 20 games. However, four of the five mentioned starters have missed multiple games. Collier missed six while Ellis missed four, perhaps two of the more significant absences for the Trojans.

In those 10 games with the starting five, USC averaged 82.2 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting. Keeping those numbers throughout a 30-game regular season, the Trojans would probably have 20 wins and be in contention for the tournament.

For one reason or another, USC basketball couldn’t find its groove this season and will likely be staring down a first-round exit in the final installment of the Pac-12 basketball tournament. The Trojans are on pace for their worst season since head coach Andy Enfield’s first year in charge in 2013-14 when they won 11 games.

A late-season surge would do USC some good but the program will have to go back to the drawing board this offseason regardless.