USC basketball lost 84-79 to Long Beach State in a game where they led by as many as 17 points in the first half.

There was one positive – Bronny James finally made his debut for USC on Sunday after missing the first month of the season following his cardiac arrest at a USC practice over the summer. James came off the bench and played 17 minutes, scoring four points to go with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Aside from that, it was another rough night for USC basketball. Guard Boogie Ellis summed it up succinctly, according to Connor Morrisette of USCfootball.com:

“We're not a good team right now.”

After starting the season in the AP Top 25, USC is now 5-4 on the year after a mistake-filled loss to LBSU.

The Trojans tied a season-high with 19 turnovers. The main culprit is freshman point guard Isaiah Collier. For all the good Collier has done for this offense (17 PPG, 4 APG), the number-one overall recruit in the class of 2023 is averaging 4.4 turnovers per game — second-most in the country. The freshman only turned the ball over three times against LBSU, but he had just two assists on the afternoon.

Ten of the 11 USC basketball players who saw the floor against Long Beach committed a turnover.

The star of the game ended up being LBSU guard Marcus Tsohonis, who came off the bench to score a game-high 28 points — including the game-tying bucket with 3.9 seconds left in regulation.

Up next for USC basketball – the Trojans visit Auburn on Sunday, Dec 17.