For USC 'Despite an undefeated start, the team's star freshman still out, its leading scorer nursing a sore shoulder and one of its top defensemen down with a hip injury, coach Eric Musselman still managed to get the best out of his depleted roster.
No. 24 USC has won eight straight tournaments, surpassing its non-conference ranking to win the inaugural Big Ten tournament at Oregon. He made it through the Maui Invitational. Despite all the losses, the Trojans didn't just remain intact, they looked as strong in the first month of the season as they have so far under Musselman. It felt like a start that could rewrite expectations.
Then came the second half of USC's Big Ten home opener at the Galena Center, when things unfolded in stunning fashion. 84-76 collapse to Washington.
“We have to play a lot better,” Musselman said. “When you're down three guys as talented as our three guys, you've got to come out and play. That's what we've got to do.”
The fact that the loss came at the hands of former Trojans point guard Desmond Claude only made things more difficult. Less than seven months ago, Claude, the Trojans' leading scorer last season, left USC on the final day of the transfer window. Now he was dressed in purple, reminding Musselman and company of what could have been.
It was Claude who came alive in the final minutes, giving the Huskies exactly the catalyst they needed to catch USC, which led for nearly four minutes on Saturday. In fact, the Trojans had an 11-point lead with less than eight minutes left in the game.
Claude nearly closed the gap himself, scoring 18 of his 22 points in an outstanding second-half performance. With less than five minutes left in the game, Claude crossed USC forward Ezra Osar and drove to the hoop, knocking off a high-cup floater to tie the game at 68.
For the Trojans it was a dizzying and discouraging fall. Washington freshman Hannes Steinbach hit a 3-pointer on the Huskies' next possession. Claude followed with one of his own. Suddenly the Trojans were down two possessions in a game they led by 18 at halftime.
The way the game reached that point was an indictment of USC's second-half effort, which was nothing like their first-half performance. USC looked ready to pull away from the game after sixth-year senior Chad Baker-Mazara scored 14 points before halftime. But nothing went further.
“We just got too comfortable,” guard Jordan Marsh said. “Simple and clear.”
Musselman was more direct.
“I thought we stunk on both sides of the ball,” he said.
Perhaps it was said nicely. After shooting 50% from the field in the first half, USC (8-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) shot a paltry 25% in the second. Meanwhile, Washington shot 59% after the break, 25% better than in the first half.
The Huskies (6-3, 1-1) also grabbed more than twice as many rebounds (25) as USC (12) and scored twice as many points in the paint (20) as USC (10) after the break.
“They just killed us on the glass,” Marsh said.
Marsh was USC's only bright spot during this stretch. With the rest of the Trojans making just five field goals in the second half, Marsh scored 10 points.
He hit a three with less than two minutes left to give USC a sliver of hope, but Claude immediately snuffed it out seconds later.
It was as demoralizing a development in the final stages as had been the Trojans under Musselman, whose disappointment after the collapse had been obvious.
He pointed to the absences of point guard Rodney Rice, freshman Alijah Arenas and Amarion Dickerson as part of the reason USC struggled in the second half.
But with all three likely to remain on the sidelines in the coming weeks, he also admitted that “nobody cares” about the hurdles they will have to overcome.
They cleared most of them—by Saturday.
“I hope this is a learning experience for our team,” Musselman said. “They're still figuring it out. Some of the guys in that locker room are very disappointed. Others, we need to find out if they're disappointed or not.”
