Evan Mobley is the big-time NBA prospect. The 7-foot phenom is a projected top-three pick. And Sunday night, he wasn’t even the best Mobley on the floor.
His brother Isaiah held that honor, keying No. 6 USC’s 85-51 blowout of third-seeded Kansas in a West Region second-round game.
The 6-10 Isaiah had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists as the Trojans (24-7) reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007. They will meet Pac-12 rival Oregon on Sunday in a regional semifinal.
“This is what you always dream for,” Isaiah Mobley said. “Me and my brother Evan had an excellent season. Then just to cap it off with a nice run into March Madness is what any kid would dream for, especially one with a brother that plays at such a high level.”
That’s not to say Evan had an off game. The Pac-12 player and freshman of the year didn’t do much scoring, settling for 10 points, but the freshman was impactful anyway, with 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the one-sided victory. The brothers are on a roll together. They also combined for 32 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks in an opening-round win over No. 11 Drake.
“They do a lot of things just to help the team win,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “They’re very unselfish and have no ego, meaning they don’t need to score the ball. They don’t get jealous of each other or other players. They just want to win.”
The rout was an apropos way to end the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-12 was the big winner over the first four days of March Madness, surprisingly sending four out of five of its teams to the Sweet 16.
The tournament began with big expectations for the Big Ten and the Big 12, the two conferences widely considered the nation’s best. But they produced just two Sweet 16 teams altogether. Meanwhile, Oregon blasted No. 2 Iowa in the West and No. 12 Oregon State — which was picked last in the Pac-12 — took out top draft prospect Cade Cunningham and No. 4 Oklahoma State in the Midwest. Its coach, Wayne Tinkle, summed up his league’s success this way: “Maybe now we’ll get some damn respect.”
“It’s a joy to see. I feel like our conference has been a little bit disrespected throughout the year, [with people] saying the Big 12, some of these other conferences were the more dominant ones,” Isaiah Mobley said. “Now we’re showing when it matters most what our conference can do.”