USC stays unbeaten with a 79-67 win over Cornell

In a hallway inside Galen Center on Monday evening, one of USC Coach Andy Enfield’s assistants was walking to the coaches’ offices when he chuckled and said, “That was ugly, huh?”

Enfield was smiling just as sheepishly a few minutes earlier during his postgame news conference. USC had issues against Cornell, a team that hasn’t done particularly well against a schedule that isn’t particularly tough.

But the 23rd-ranked Trojans still won, 79-67. They are still undefeated, now 11-0.

“Honestly, I have no idea how we’re 11-0,” Enfield said, also chuckling. “But we are.”

Enfield has brought the Trojans to this peculiar position, where they are undefeated, won a game by double digits and can still feel unsatisfied.

Enfield said his team has “a long way to go.”

To begin, for a team that has started its season flawlessly, USC has had trouble with starts.

The Trojans again slogged through much of the first half on Monday. Cornell made eight of its first 10 shots and four of its first five three-point attempts. At one point, the Big Red led by 10 points.

The early torpor has become a pattern. On Saturday, in its first game since joining the Associated Press rankings last week, USC trailed at halftime against Troy and needed to gut out a final-minute victory. Two games earlier, against Brigham Young, the Trojans temporarily forgot how to make layups and fell into a significant early deficit.

“We’ve been down I think five or six games by nine or 10 points,” Enfield said.

Point guard Jordan McLaughlin, noting that the team was typically focused, said he wasn’t concerned by the sleepy starts. Then he reconsidered.

“You’ve got to be concerned a little bit,” he said. “You don’t always want to play catch-up.”

Said Enfield: “We know we have a lot of work to do.”

USC didn’t awaken until forward Charles Buggs threw down a one-handed dunk on a lead pass from McLaughlin. The bucket tied the score for the first time with about five minutes before halftime.

Buggs, a graduate transfer from Minnesota, finished the game with nine points and seven rebounds. Enfield called it his best game of the season.

Buggs has been dealing with the effects of a slight tear in his knee that required surgery earlier this year. A week and a half ago, he injured his hamstring during pregame warmups. After Monday’s game, he had more fluid drained from his knee, but he said he is finally starting to feel healthy.

Buggs contributed to a frontcourt that savaged Cornell. USC enjoyed many athletic advantages over the deceivingly named Big Red, who had just one starter taller than 6 feet 4. The Trojans, whose starters were four inches taller on average, out-rebounded Cornell, 43-28.

Chimezie Metu, whom coaches once coaxed to be more aggressive, led USC with 17 points. He sunk smooth turnarounds in the post. Once, he spun past a defender and slammed in a dunk.

“He actually demands the ball,” said McLaughlin, who scored 16 points.

Cornell (2-7) hadn’t played a power-conference team before Monday and has gone 60 years without a road win over a ranked team. But the Big Red made 12 of 30 three-point shots, which kept them in the game.

USC had held opponents to 29% three-point accuracy until its last two games. Troy made 11 of 27.

Such troubles have been vexing. Buggs said “this team here is more focused” compared to his former Minnesota team. Enfield said he could try to address the team’s poor starts by changing the starting lineup. But he indicated that isn’t imminent.

Enfield did, however, make smaller changes. Buggs began the second half instead of starter Nick Rakocevic. And the coach was quick to pull guards Elijah Stewart and Shaqquan Aaron for freshmen De’Anthony Melton and Jonah Mathews.

“When you’re down 10 you have to try something right?” Enfield said.

Up next for USC

Thursday vs. Missouri State, 8 p.m., Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, FS1 — USC opens the two-game Las Vegas Classic against a Bears team led by Ronnie Rousseau, who averages 13.8 points.

zach.helfand@latimes.com

Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand