GREENVILLE, S.C. — You can’t criticize the USC effort. After looking dead in the water and facing an 11-point halftime deficit in their first-round matchup with Miami in the NCAA Tournament, it was easy to count the Trojans out.

USC clawed its way back, though, leading by one with 4:51 to play.

But in the end, USC did not have big plays in the tank to overcome their numerous mistakes, as the Trojans’ season came to an end with a 68-66 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

Free throws put the 10th-seeded Miami up by seven with less than a minute to play. Drew Peterson hit a 3-pointer to give 7th-seeded USC life, which was increased when Miami guard Charlie Moore quickly lost the ball out of bounds. Another Peterson 3, and it was a one-point game.

After an intentional foul, Miami forward Sam Waardenburg split a pair of free throws. Peterson drove the length of the floor for the tying layup with 14 seconds left.

But Moore drew a foul driving to the rim on the other side of the court and hit both free throws. With three seconds left, USC in-bounded the ball to Peterson, whose heave at the end of the buzzer hit the backboard, then the front of the rim and fell to the court, ending USC’s season in heartbreaking fashion.

Such an ending was inconceivable at halftime.

The first half was pretty much a nightmare for USC, which shot 29.6% from the floor and committed 12 turnovers leading to an equal number of Miami points, the difference in an 11-point game at the break. Mobley, the Trojans’ leading scorer, did not score a single point.

The Trojans opened 2 for 12 from the floor with five turnovers, quickly falling behind 10-4 as Isaiah Wong scored the Hurricanes’ first 10 points. It led head coach Andy Enfield to say his team looked like it had never played basketball before during an interview with truTV.

But 3-pointers from Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson and a Chevez Goodwin put-back gave USC its first lead of the game at 14-13, and it seemed like the Trojans were playing themselves into a rhythm after the slow start.

The Trojans’ problem compounded soon after, though.

The Hurricanes responded with a 14-2 run, sprinting after USC turnovers for easy layups. USC repeatedly drove into the paint and tried to dump the ball off to a teammate only to throw the ball right into an orange jersey.

Enfield made a quick change to bring stability to the Trojans to start the second half, subbing in Ethan Anderson and Reese Dixon-Waters for Ellis and Max Agbonkpolo. Anderson opened the half with a layup and used a full-court press to harass the Miami ball handler.

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The USC offense got going from there. Mobley broke out of his slump with a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to cut the deficit to one. Then Dixon-Waters blocked a 3-pointer and hit one of his own to put USC back in the lead, 35-33, and kick start a second half that bounced back and forth.

Dixon-Waters did not play in USC’s Pac-12 semifinal loss last week due to a groin injury. But the redshirt freshman was the star of the second half, diving on the floor for loose balls, driving to the rim for layups. When he rose up for 3-pointers, the USC bench rose in unison like a white wall behind him.

More to come on this story …