Isaiah Collier, USC stage gutty rally before losing to Cal in OT
The freshman point guard, who missed six games with a hand injury, scores all 20 of his points after halftime as the Trojans erase a 16-point deficit but the Golden Bears prevail, 83-77
USC guard Isaiah Collier, right, and Cal guard Jalen Celestine vie for the ball during the second half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. The Trojans erased a 16-point second-half deficit to force overtime before losing, 83-77. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC guard Bronny James, right, watches the ball get away as Cal guard Zach Brooker defends during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal guard Jalen Cone, right, shoots as USC guard Bronny James defends during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC guard Bronny James drives as Cal’s Jaylon Tyson defends during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Lakers star LeBron James watches warmups from the stands before USC’s game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal guard Jaylon Tyson, center, is defended by USC guard Boogie Ellis, left, and forward Joshua Morgan during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal guard Jaylon Tyson, right, shoots as USC forward Joshua Morgan defends during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC coach Andy Enfield shouts to his players from the sideline during the first half of their game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal’s Grant Newell dunks during the first half of their game against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
USC’s Bronny James holds the ball as Cal’s Jaylon Tyson defends during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Lakers star LeBron James and his wife, Savannah James, watch their son Bronny James play for USC during the Trojans’ game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal guard Jalen Cone shoots next to USC guard Bronny James during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal guard Jalen Cone celebrates after scoring during the first half of their game against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal’s Jalen Cone celebrates after a basket during the first half of their game against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
USC guard Bronny James brings the ball up the court during the first half of their game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal forward Fardaws Aimaq dunks during the first half of their game against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal guard Keonte Kennedy shoots as USC guard Oziyah Sellers defends during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal coach Mark Madsen gestures from the sideline during the first half of their game against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal guard Jalen Cone looks to pass the ball as USC forward Vincent Iwuchukwu defends during the first half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Lakers star LeBron James shouts to his son, USC guard Bronny James, during USC’s game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
USC guard Bronny James, right, shoots as Cal forward Fardaws Aimaq defends during the second half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal guard Keonte Kennedy (3) celebrates after scoring during the second half of their overtime win against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC guard Isaiah Collier soars to the basket for a dunk during the second half of their game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC guard Isaiah Collier, right, and Cal guard Jalen Celestine vie for the ball during the second half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. The Trojans erased a 16-point second-half deficit to force overtime before losing, 83-77. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC forward Kijani Wright shoots over Cal forward Fardaws Aimaq during the second half on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal’s Jalen Celestine, center, is congratulated by Jaylon Tyson, left, after scoring during overtime of their game against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal guards Jaylon Tyson, right, and Jalen Celestine celebrate during their overtime victory over USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC’s Bronny James handles the ball as Cal’s Jaylon Tyson defends on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal’s Jalen Cone, top, passes the ball as USC’s DJ Rodman defends on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal’s Jalen Cone (15) celebrates after he made a 3-point shot during overtime in their game against USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal’s Jaylon Tyson drives as USC’s Kobe Johnson defends on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal’s Jaylon Tyson shoots over USC’s Kobe Johnson during their game on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Cal guard Jaylon Tyson celebrates after their overtime victory over USC on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Cal coach Mark Madsen, right, hugs Lakers star LeBron James after Cal defeated USC and James’ son, Bronny James, in overtime on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC guard Bronny James greets his father, Lakers star LeBron James, after their overtime loss to Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
USC guards Bronny James, left, and Boogie Ellis warm up before their game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Lakers star LeBron James stands in the crowd before USC’s game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
USC guard Bronny James warms up before their game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Lakers star LeBron James and his wife, Savannah James, watch their son Bronny James play for USC during the Trojans’ game against Cal on Wednesday night in Berkeley. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BERKELEY — Nothing was working in front of the cacophony of jeers and swells from a packed Haas Pavilion, and Isaiah Collier couldn’t be a savior, because that was simply too much to put on a 19-year-old’s shoulders.
USC’s freshman point guard was back, surprisingly quickly, after not having played for a month with a hand injury. And he looked it for the better part of 30 minutes on Wednesday night against Cal, his touch gone rusty. He had just a handful of points by the time he careened to the basket a few minutes into the second half, pausing in mid-air and deciding to dump off a pass in the paint, the ball flying out of bounds. And assistant coach Eric Mobley glanced at him incredulously from the bench, holding his left hand high in a motion with only one meaning.
Go up with it.
And for 13 subsequent minutes in a miraculous comeback against Cal, Collier shredded the pressures that had fallen on his shoulders ever since he had entered USC’s program, tasked as a freshman with leading a free-flowing Andy Enfield offense in a season that was slipping away. He played free, firing himself at the rim like a cannonball with arms and legs, each drive and whistle on an incredulous Golden Bear chipping away at a double-digit Cal lead. And miraculously, USC pushed a once-sloppy game into overtime minutes.
But they fell one play short, one gut-wrenching play short, and Collier and USC (9-14 overall, 3-9 Pac-12) walked off Cal’s jubilant home floor holding a debilitating 83-77 overtime loss.
“This is college sports,” Enfield, the USC coach, said postgame. “You don’t win every game. You gotta fight through the adversity. A lot of teams go through this, a lot of players, coaches … no one feels sorry for us, so we don’t expect it.”
With under 30 seconds left in a barnburner in overtime, the ball again in the freshman’s hands, Collier got a wide-open lane to the basket and went up with a layup – only for Cal’s Fardaws Aimaq to get enough of an arm in front of Collier’s attempt to send it clanking short. Collier thought he got fouled. Enfield thought he got fouled, saying after the game there was contact to Collier’s head. But no whistle sounded, and the Golden Bears (10-13, 6-6 Pac-12) closed out a win, senior Jaylon Tyson bellowing and waving his arms to an arena in sheer delirium.
USC’s hopes looked cooked by the first play of the second half, Aimaq snaring his own rebound and kicking out for a 3-pointer that extended Cal’s lead to 14 points. With 10 minutes left, Collier knifed for an and-one finish to cut Cal’s lead to six and quiet the crowd – only for Tyson to immediately re-ignite them with a 3-pointer in Johnson’s face to beat the shot clock. A pass to DJ Rodman went right through his hands in the corner. Tyson fired a loose ball off of USC’s legs to earn an extra possession. A collection of red zip-ups on USC’s coaching bench drooped their heads.
“It is frustrating … stuff like that, that’s just us,” Enfield said postgame, referring to one second-half stretch when USC missed four free throws and then a layup. “That’s our team. Meaning, we control that. It’s not what the other team is doing.”
Then Collier, in the most brilliant stretch of his young USC career, simply shifted into turbo. He didn’t start, this night, returning after a month-long absence from a hand injury sustained on Jan. 10 against Washington State. But he closed. And closed hard.
Trailing by 11, he skied to the rim for another and-one finish. Seconds later, he nabbed a steal off a brilliantly timed full-court press and ascended for a thunderous cock-back tomahawk dunk. He scored eight of USC’s next 10 points, eschewing an innate table-setter’s nature and re-activating dormant genes of a hard-hitting youth football safety growing up in Georgia, clapping his hands and bellowing after parading to the free-throw line. Miraculously, after falling behind by 16 early in the second half, Collier’s push and a swarming USC defensive effort pulled the Trojans to within a single point on a final possession – and after a rebound, Collier again attacked the basket, bellowing in ecstasy after drawing yet another whistle.
“You saw his competitive spirit … no one’s perfect, but he sure tried as hard as he could to help us win,” Enfield said.
He made his first free throw, tying the score at 67-all with 27.7 seconds left. But he missed his second, and the game headed to overtime after Tyson missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
And USC and Cal went back and forth in the extra frame, trading punches, a raucous crowd responding with every blow. With less than a minute left, Cal’s Jalen Cone drained a corner 3-pointer to put the Golden Bears ahead by four, only for the Trojans’ Rodman to respond right back with a 3-pointer of his own. It was tantalizingly close, a tremendous display of resilience from a USC team that had too often wilted.
But Collier missed a layup, and Rodman missed a late 3-point attempt that would have again cut Cal’s lead to one, and the Trojans were left with nothing to show for perhaps their gutsiest performance of the season.
“I feel like we can still accomplish a lot of things … it’s our first game back since February with a whole team,” Collier said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Collier finished 4 for 13 from the field but 12 for 16 from the foul line. He had 14 points in the last 7½ minutes of regulation. Rodman had 17 points. … Tyson had 27 points to pace Cal, while Jalen Celestine had six of his 11 points in overtime, including three free throws in the last 24 seconds.
