LOS ANGELES – Earlier this week, USC improved on its best start in 16 years with a win at San Diego.
“A win’s a win,” junior guard Jordan McLaughlin said. “You want to win as many as you can. It was a good win for us overall.”
But the aftermath was soiled.
Sophomore forward Bennie Boatwright, the team’s most talented scorer, had left early in the game Wednesday night when a defender slammed into his knee. The Trojans learned the following day they would miss Boatwright for six weeks when he was diagnosed with a grade II sprain of his medial collateral ligament following an MRI.