The star freshman was running on fumes. The shots weren’t falling from long range. The Pac-12’s best defense hadn’t lived up to its high billing against an offense missing three starters.
All game long, Stanford had kept USC at arms length, shooting 50% from the field, swiftly thwarting any serious sniff at a comeback. But the Trojans stuck around nonetheless, dragged along by another double-double from Evan Mobley, their offense grinding away until the Cardinal went cold and the score was tied with 1:18 left.
That’s when Tahj Eaddy, the one consistent beacon of offense in the Trojans backcourt this season, caught an inbounds pass far away from the basket, calmly walked the ball up the court, and coolly hit a go-ahead floater.