Win gives Southern Cal first trip to Elite Eight since 2001
INDIANAPOLIS — Isaiah White scored 22 points and Southern California shut down Oregon’s potent offense to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 20 years with an 82-68 victory in the West Region semifinals Sunday night.
Pac-12 After Dark Indy-style turned into a lightsout performance by Southern Cal.
The Trojans (25-7) clipped the high-flying Ducks with their length on the perimeter and 7-footer Evan Mobley in the middle. Offensively, the region’s No. 6 seed bobbed and weaved through the holes in Oregon’s defense, shooting 57 percent and 10for-17 from 3.
The all-around domination put three Pac-12 teams in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2001 and gives the Trojans a shot at undefeated Gonzaga in Tuesday’s region final. The last trip to the Elite Eight for the Trojans was in 2001 under Henry Bibby.
“We’re making history and it just means a lot to this program,” White said. “As a team, we’re just super excited and we worked for this, so I’m glad that it’s paying off.”
Oregon certainly had no answer for the long-armed Trojans.
The seventh-seed Ducks (21-7) floundered against the Trojans’ zone, unable to find holes or get much of anything to drop over it until a late rally that came up short. The Pac-12’s best 3-point shooting team (38 percent) went 5 of 21 from the arc.
For the Ducks, Eugene Omoruyi had 28 points 10 rebounds and Chris Duarte scored 21.
Oregon and Southern Cal have been a big part of the Pac-12’s unexpected success in the Circle City.
Picked to be the worst among the major conferences, the big league out West opened the NCAA Tournament with nine straight wins and got four teams through to the Sweet 16.
Oregon State and UCLA already advanced, so the showdown between the Ducks and Trojans meant a Pac-12 trio in the Elite Eight.
Oregon was in a familiar position, running this deep into March for the fourth time in five NCAA Tournaments. Southern Cal had to reach back to the 2006-07 team with Nick Young and Taj Gibson for its last Sweet 16 ride.