Boogie Ellis' No-Show in USC's March Madness Loss to Michigan State Has Fans Stunned

No. 7 Michigan State ousted No. 10 USC in the first round of the 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament on Friday by a 72-62 score, and a poor showing by Trojans star guard Boogie Ellis was a big reason why.

Ellis, who entered the game as USC's leading scorer this season with 18.0 points per contest, struggled through one of his worst performances of the year.

After averaging 24.2 points per game in his previous seven outings, Ellis was held to just six points on 3-of-12 shooting to go along with six rebounds and five assists.

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With Ellis finishing a disappointing fifth on the team in scoring on Friday, many Twitter users criticized his play:

Although it was far from Ellis' best game, head coach Tom Izzo's Spartans deserve a great deal of credit for playing lockdown defense.

No Trojans player finished with more than 14 points, and USC shot only 41.4 percent from the field, compared to 48. 1 percent for MSU.

The Spartans also forced 11 turnovers and managed to do it cleanly, as USC attempted only eight free throws in the entire game.

Michigan State had four of its five starters score in double figures, and it was led by forward Joey Hauser. The brother of Boston Celtics forward Sam Hauser had a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds in the win.

While head coach Andy Enfield and the Trojans are heading home after a first-round exit for the second successive year, Michigan State will move on to the second round to face the winner of No. 2 Marquette vs. No. 15 Vermont.

Watch March Madness Live to stream every tournament game through the Final Four.