LOS ANGELES — Isaiah Mobley stood alone at the top of the key, back at the scene of his frustrating, final miss from two nights earlier. The script, to this point, had hit all the familiar notes. The slow start. The furious first-half run. The back-and-forth after halftime. And now, the narrow late lead, with No. 15 USC unable to put away California, and the ball back in its captain’s hands.
This time, Mobley had designs on a different ending. He shouldered the blame in defeat Thursday, after missing a free throw and a last-ditch three-point attempt in the waning seconds against Stanford, and until the final minute of USC’s 79-72 victory Saturday, he’d carried the weight of USC’s offense on his back in a career-high performance, too.
But Cal lingered anyway, keeping it close until that final minute, when Mobley backed down a single Bears defender, determined to exorcise any demons still remaining from the Trojans’ last loss.
