Boogie Ellis Scores 17 Points As No. 24 USC Men's Basketball Routs Saint Joseph's At Wooden Legacy, 70-55
Boogie Ellis scored 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting as No. 24 USC men's basketball cruised over Saint Joseph's, 70-55, in the semifinal round of the Paycom Wooden Legacy in Anaheim on Thanksgiving Day.
Ellis has scored over double digits in all five of his starts and surpassed 15 points in four of those games. The junior transfer from Memphis is averaging 17 points per game on 57.1% shooting.
Boogie drains one from Downtown Disney!
He's 3-for-3 with 7 points after hitting a deep triple.
📺: ESPN2
📱: https://t.co/qcp1a5CABf pic.twitter.com/467fkYVj8N— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) November 26, 2021
"I was trying to give the game a lot of effort and to communicate really well and to always stay calm," Ellis said. "I felt that we controlled the game the entire time, we had them on the heels the entire time and there weren't really any points in the game when we were really rattled."
Joshua Morgan scored a USC career-high 13 points off the bench in his second year with the Trojans. The USC bench combined for 28 points.
Morgan, who saw more minutes due to Isaiah White's back injury, said that his improvements on the defensive end has helped him become a more confident player.
"I feel that I'm progressing a lot on my game," said Morgan, who transferred from Long Beach State prior to the 2020-21 season. "It's not that I didn't have confidence before, but now I feel I'm settling in more into my role with USC. I've been playing looser and that shows I'm more confident."
Chevez Goodwin had 10 points and eight rebounds. Isaiah Mobley grabbed a game-high 10 boards.
The Trojans' win marks a 5-0 for the second straight season.
"It was a good team win," said USC coach Andy Enfield. "I thought our defense was outstanding."
Despite making just four 3-pointers, USC's size bothered Saint Joseph's (2-3) as the Trojans scored 40 points in the paint.
USC also continued its clean assist-to-turnover ratio on Thursday, turning the ball over just seven times while dishing 12 dimes.
The Trojans started separating from the Hawks midway into the first half with a 11-0 run powered by 3-pointers from Ellis and Ethan Anderson and five consecutive free throws from Morgan. USC boasted a 38-26 lead at halftime.
Saint Joseph's heated up from the 3-point line to start the second half, cutting the Trojans' lead to seven points with 16 minutes in the second half.
USC responded with a six-point burst and later went on a 12-4 run led by Reese Dixon-Waters to put away the game for good.
Waters is wet! 💦@Ree_Waters hits a triple to give USC a 17-point lead, its largest of the night.
📺: ESPN2
📱: https://t.co/qcp1a5CABf pic.twitter.com/WxVjKUFzyE— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) November 26, 2021
Ejike Obinna finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Saint Joseph's. Hawks leading scorers Taylor Funk (18.5 ppg) and Jordan Hall (15.5 ppg) were held to just 12 points and four points, respectively.
"Drew Peterson played really well against their best player Hall, our bigs switched well when they had to on Funk and challenged most of his shots," Enfield said. "Joshua did a great job tonight in the paint blocking and challenging shots. They're a really good three-point shooting team and we held them to 6-31. Our guys made a really great effort in terms of challenging everything they shot."
USC will play in the championship round of the Wooden Legacy against San Diego State, Friday at 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
After the Wooden Legacy, USC opens Pac-12 play hosting Utah on Wednesday. The Trojans travel to Washington State on Dec. 4 before resuming non-conference play.