USC figures out Colorado
Trojans’ seven-game skid to Buffaloes ends behind Goodwin’s strong second half.
BOULDER, Colo. — When Chevez Goodwin transferred to USC, he quickly learned about the rivalry with, and losing streak to, Colorado.
“I knew for a fact coming into this year, I was like, I’ll be going to Boulder, personally, and I’m going to break that streak right here, right now,” Goodwin said.
After a rough first half, Goodwin carried the 16thranked Trojans to their first win over the Buffaloes since 2018.
Goodwin scored all 14 of his points in the second half and grabbed 18 rebounds, Max Agbonkpolo had 11 points and made three of four free throws in the final 15 seconds, and USC ended three years of frustration against Colorado with a 6158 victory on Thursday night.
Isaiah Mobley had 13 points and six rebounds and Boogie Ellis overcame foul trouble to score 11 for the Trojans (15-2, 5-2 Pac-12), who had dropped seven straight to the Buffaloes (12-5, 4-3).
Goodwin’s inside play was the difference.
“He was 0 for 6 with two turnovers in the first half and didn’t play very well,” USC coach Andy Enfield said of Goodwin. “So he made his mind up in the second half to come out with the energy and he was terrific, get 18 rebounds, seven offensive, and just dominate the paint.”
Jabari Walker scored 13 points for Colorado, but he had the ball stripped away by Drew Peterson with seven seconds left and the Buffaloes trailing by three.
USC, a 61.3% free-throw shooting team coming in, hit 12 of 17 and just enough down the stretch in its first game since tumbling 11 spots in the AP top 25.
“You don’t like to lose too many in your league. Three out of four [losses] would have been hard for us,” Enfield said. “But this was a big win.”
Neither team led by more than seven points as the Trojans shot just 37% from the field. Colorado made 31% of its shots.