USC men’s basketball fades in second half of loss | College News

Fresh off what appeared to be a turning level in the USC males’s basketball season, during which they’d lastly discovered a rhythm in back-to-back massive wins, the Trojans couldn’t lengthen their run in opposition to a nationally ranked opponent.

What initially seemed like a full rout by No. 24 Wisconsin changed into a gritty show of battle and willpower. After opening the sport disjointed and unfocused, the Trojans chipped away at a double-digit deficit and obtained close earlier than their rally was in the end thwarted.

But the positives had been positively overshadowed by the negatives, particularly for coach Eric Musselman, in USC’s 84-69 loss to Wisconsin on the Galen Center on Saturday afternoon.

After the sport, a dejected Musselman emphasised, “I’m not going to sit up here and call guys out.” However, the message — when studying between the traces — Musselman was sending was fairly clear.

He solely credited the trouble of his two main scorers, Saint Thomas and Rashaun Agee, who completed with 19 factors on seven of 11 capturing and 15 factors on six of 11, respectively.

“Saint and Rashaun played with great energy,” Musselman mentioned. “I can credit those two guys.”

Thomas performed a key function in stopping fellow Omaha, Neb., native and “big bro” Wisconsin guard John Tonje, who was a focus of the defensive recreation plan. Tonje, one of the Big Ten’s main scorers, averaging 18.2 factors per recreation, was held scoreless.

Despite shutting down Tonje, the remaining of Wisconsin’s guards, a group led by John Blackwell and Max Klesmit, accounted for 56 factors on 20 of 35 (57.1 %) capturing.

“Blackwell took the game over at the beginning, and the difference in the game was his spurt ability, scoring the ball, and then you know 11 [Klesmit],” Musselman mentioned. “Their two guards really hurt us.”

In a recreation that required a full defensive effort from his group, the remaining of the Trojans struggled to seek out rhythm and cohesiveness as a unit to stop the Badgers, trying as if they’d taken one step back after making two steps ahead.

Even with the praiseworthy defensive effort, Thomas agreed together with his coach, describing the group as “playing stagnant” and “not looking how we did at the beginning of the week.”

The opening half in opposition to Wisconsin (15-3, 5-2 Big Ten) was a full function reversal from the Trojans’ latest matchup in opposition to Iowa, during which they appeared to have discovered their rhythm as a unit. On Saturday, nonetheless, the Trojans trailed 42-27 at halftime.

A ten-point run halfway via the primary half left the Trojans scoreless for 5 minutes, fueling the Badgers’ momentum. Wisconsin capitalized with a combine of outdoors capturing and near-perfect free-throw effectivity.

The Badgers, who entered the sport main the nation in free-throw share, had the Trojans taking part in catch-up for the remaining of the half as USC (11-7, 3-4) struggled to seek out an offensive rhythm.

If the Trojans had been going to achieve success, they needed a contribution from their level guard, Desmond Claude, who had not too long ago delivered 31- and 25-point performances. Claude — the Big Ten’s main scorer in convention play, averaging 22 factors per recreation — completed with simply 9 factors and turned the ball over 5 instances.