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Bronny James Goes Scoreless as USC Loses to Washington State at Home

Adam WellsJanuary 11, 2024

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 06: Bronny James #6 of the USC Trojans handles the ball in the first half against the Stanford Cardinal at Galen Center on January 06, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

There are a lot of firsts that an athlete will experience over the course of their career, and Bronny James had one of those moments in USC's 72-64 loss to Washington State on Wednesday night.

James was held scoreless for the first time in his college career. He went 0-of-3 from the field with two rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes against the Cougars.

USC head coach Andy Enfield elected to go with a bigger lineup late in the second half, so James was on the bench for seven minutes starting with 7:31 left to play before checking back in with 29 seconds remaining.

Enfield was pleased with James' overall effort, despite not scoring.

"He made a couple nice plays tonight," Enfield said of James after the loss.

The 15 minutes were James' fewest in a game since Dec. 28 against Oregon. That was also the last time he didn't get to the free-throw line before Wednesday night.

James is struggling to find his shot right now. The 19-year-old has missed nine consecutive field-goal attempts since starting 4-of-4 against California on Jan. 3. He's scored a total of two points in the past two games combined.

Wednesday's loss snapped the Trojans' two-game winning streak and dropped their record back to .500 at 8-8. They will begin a three-game Pac-12 road trip starting on Saturday night against Colorado.