Alijah Arenas debut spoiled by USCs loss to

As he laid in a hospital mattress last April, fortunate to be alive, Alijah Arenas dreamed of this second. He thought of it in the weeks and months after his Tesla Cybertruck hit a tree and burst into flames in Reseda, leaving him hospitalized for six days. And he thought of it over a long summer season and fall spent rehabbing the injured knee that failed him in his first week back to apply at USC.

Nine tough months spent ready for the day to finally culminated Wednesday evening with Arenas roaring into the lane, with just one defender standing between him and the ring. The five-star freshman had dedicated to USC with every intention of bolting for the NBA after one season, only for the setbacks of the past 12 months to put his probably lottery standing in doubt.

Now right here, as he lifted toward the ring early in his faculty debut, Arenas spun around that lone defender in mid-air and softly laid in a finger roll, reminding everybody in attendance of the expertise they’d waited so eagerly to see.

But what unfolded from that second on Wednesday evening in all probability wasn’t how Arenas or any Trojan would have envisioned it, as Northwestern, a workforce beforehand winless in the Big Ten, spoiled the star freshman’s debut and left USC spiraling with a 74-68 defeat.

“Critical, critical loss tonight,” Coach Eric Musselman said. “I can’t. I mean, just brutal.”

It actually wasn’t the best way the Trojans coach hoped his workforce would look upon returning its most gifted participant. Afterwards, Musselman questioned aloud if he’d made the fitting resolution to throw Arenas proper into the fire as a starter and play him 29 minutes. He completed with eight factors in his debut, capturing three of 15 from the perimeter in a efficiency that left him clearly gassed throughout. At one level he left to have his knee evaluated by trainers on the bench.

“He should be a high school senior,” Musselman said. “Reclassified, missed an entire summer, and then you’re throwing him in the middle of Big Ten play. … Should I have started him? Maybe not. Should I have played him less minutes? Maybe. But we’re struggling right now to find five guys with the way we’re shooting and blowing coverages.“

With losses in three of their last five coming into Wednesday, USC (14-5 overall, 3-5 in Big Ten) had hoped that its five-star freshman’s arrival would act as a salve at the start of its Big Ten slate. But there were only so many problems that talent could paper over for the Trojans, even if Northwestern had come into Wednesday night on the heels of a five-game losing streak.

Arenas’ debut didn’t suddenly correct the Trojans’ free-throw woes. After hitting just five of 14 from the stripe in a loss to Purdue on Saturday, USC responded by shooting 26 of 43 on Wednesday night, with Northwestern content to foul them pretty much whenever the Trojans drove inside.

Once again, no one, Arenas included, could get going from three-point range for USC either, as the Trojans followed up a 3 of 20 showing from deep against Purdue loss by making their first two three-pointers … only to miss their next 11.

Musselman deemed USC’s effort from the stripe and 3-pointer line nothing short of “horrific”.

“That can’t happen if we want to win,” Marsh said.

Nor can USC count on to have its main scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, foul out with 9 minutes remaining in the sport and count on to keep afloat.

“Sixth-year player, and he fouls out in 13 minutes,” Musselman said, pissed off. “It’s unheard of.”

It was Marsh, Arenas’ backup in the backcourt, who would once again drag the Trojans back from the brink against Northwestern after the Wildcats had led practically your complete sport. Just a week earlier, Marsh had dropped 17 in the second half of USC’s win over Maryland. On Wednesday, he was even better, piling up 19 after halftime.

But there was little he or USC’s five-star freshman may do in the ultimate minutes as Northwestern fended off every push from the determined Trojans, thanks largely to the efforts of senior ahead Nick Martinelli, who torched USC for 22 factors.

Still, USC hung on tight through the second half, never letting Northwestern’s lead grow to more than eight. Marsh drove the lane with a probability to cut Northwestern’s lead to a single possession in the ultimate 15 seconds. But his lay-in flew wildly out of his arms.

The loss spoiled a debut that had been maybe the most anticipated at USC in at least half a decade, since Evan Mobley graced the Galen Center court in 2021. But while Mobley led the Trojans on an Elite Eight run, his lone season at USC was performed entrance of empty arenas because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Arenas, meanwhile, was just the type of bluechip prospect that Eric Musselman and his workers had hoped to construct around, the kind that may persuade people to come watch USC hoops.

The path to that level had confirmed far more harrowing than anybody anticipated. But what felt like a mild at the end of the tunnel Wednesday evening didn’t really feel practically as hopeful for USC by the ultimate buzzer sounded.

It left USC’s coach and his gamers instead questioning where this season is likely to be headed next. And not essentially in a great way.

“I don’t know,” Musselman said. “I guess I’ll just keep searching.”