The stars were out in LA as USC outshined ASU on Thursday

(Photo: Alyssa Buruato/WCSN)

Arizona State men’s basketball and Southern California are in the bottom half of the Pac-12 standings, but the stars were shining in the City of Angels.

Desert Financial Arena had Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in attendance for the first half of the Territorial Cup last week, but that pales in comparison to having Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud sitting court-side at the Galen Center. The renowned athletes could not leave early as it was tied at halftime, so they witnessed USC fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis put on a show in the second half.

The two teams last met in Tempe on Jan. 20 when ASU defeated USC rather easily in a 15-point victory, but USC did not have the fifth-year guard or five-star freshman guard Isaiah Collier in that matchup. It’s safe to say the Trojans having their top two scorers back for the rematch made a difference.

Collier did not have a fantastic game by any means as he only scored eight points, but Ellis more than made up for it by pouring in 28 points with six threes to give USC (13-17, 7-12) the 81-73 victory over ASU (14-16, 8-11 Pac-12). The only thing stopping the San Diego native was himself, whether ASU head coach Bobby Hurley liked it or not.

“We knew they had multiple weapons,” Hurley said. “He’s one of their key guys, obviously. He was in some foul issues in the first half. I was concerned at halftime because I knew he only played nine minutes in the first half and then you wonder if this guy is going to come out swinging. He’s one of the most dangerous players in our league.

“He could really put points on the board quickly. We missed a couple of assignments on defense through the ball screen and pin down. When you do that with a player like that, you’ve got him going, then he becomes tougher to stop.”

Ellis scored eight of the team’s first 11 points, but two quick fouls limited his playing time, and ASU took advantage by scoring 14 unanswered points to take its first lead after 13 minutes elapsed. At this point, it was a back-and-forward game with four lead changes in the final three minutes of the first half.

The Memphis transfer was tired of sitting on the bench and seeing this continuous pendulum swing, so he put an end to it in the final 20 minutes. Ellis drilled three triples in as many minutes halfway through the second half to give the Trojans an eight-point lead, and his team never looked back.

Ellis certainly had his moment with 20 second-half points, but ASU also had a veteran that went toe-to-toe with the Trojan. Graduate guard Jose Perez finished with 25 points, including 19 in the second half, but he scored his points in a different way than his USC opponent.

The Sun Devil made all 11 of his free throws — a stark difference from the rest of the team making 11 of its 19 free throws — and missed his only three-point attempt. Perez only had six points at halftime, but he did not need to make any adjustments at the break to get his second-highest point total of the season.

“(I) just focused up,” Perez said. “Tried to get to my spots here and there. Trying to make the right play. I was getting to the free throw line. I was getting fouled. I was getting calls today. Just made it happen.”

The graduate student’s game is predicated on getting to the charity stripe, which he certainly did in the second half with nine free throws. Redshirt junior guard Adam Miller also got to the free throw line frequently as he hit 7 of his 10 attempts.

Miller dropped 18 points, making 5 of his 10 field goal tries, but it becomes apparent that the LSU transfer obtained most of that from inside the arc as he only made 1 of 5 three-pointers. Perez and Miller formed a dynamic duo, combining for more than half of the team’s points, but it was still was not enough.

The redshirt junior’s woes from long range was a microcosm of the team’s performance, as it only hit 3 of 16 threes in the game. Despite the struggles from behind the arc, the offense was still decent to keep it competitive for the Sun Devils.

“I thought that we played pretty well on offense,” Hurley said. “Shot 50% (from the field). Made as many field goals as them. Free throw differential wasn’t significant. We had 17 assists to six turnovers, so that ratio was really good. We share the ball and play that way on offense, we just got to do a better job on defense. We let (Ellis) get away from us and they hit 12 of 24 from three, so we just got to guard the three-point line better.”

Both ASU and USC need automatic bids from the Pac-12 Tournament to qualify for March Madness, so this game does not necessarily do anything in terms of helping or hurting a resume. If anything, both teams are just looking to get some momentum before the conference tournament next week.

The Sun Devils failed to spark that momentum against USC, and UCLA will not be any easier. Both Hurley and Perez pointed to the Bruins defense as something to look out for in Saturday’s matchup.

“They’re playing really hard for (UCLA head coach) Mick Cronin and that’s what his teams always do,” Hurley said. “They’re a really good defensive team if they keep it to half court and they have (sophomore center Adem) Bona, who we have to deal with. They still have a lot to play for.”

“Their physicality on defense,” Perez said of UCLA’s strength. “How physical they are. They’re going to make you drive and kick and hit tough shots over them.”