Big Ten men’s basketball is officially underway at USC and the Trojans began conference play with a familiar, former Pac-12 opponent, the No. 12 Oregon Ducks.
USC set the tone on the defensive end to begin the game and held Oregon scoreless up until the 17:37 mark of the first half, with the Ducks’ sophomore guard Jackson Shelstad scoring the game’s first basket for either team. The layup was the only points the Ducks scored in the game’s first five minutes.
“I thought we kept the lane a little more compact than we had,” head coach Eric Musselman said after the game. “I thought we got away from our physicality the last few games so I think we got that and our scrap back.”
While they didn’t have the fastest offensive start, the Trojans began making plays on both ends and built a 12-5 lead in the first seven minutes of the game. In that stretch, USC limited Oregon to two made field goals and also forced two turnovers.
During USC’s 12-5 run, junior guard Desmond Claude and graduate guard Chibuzo Agbo scored or assisted on all 12 points. Claude and Agbo carried a heavy load on offense all game, as Claude finished with 22 points and Agbo finished with 18 points. Despite shooting 3-11 from the field, Agbo reached the charity stripe 10 times and knocked down all of his free throws.
“Any shooter will tell you that when you get the reps up, your shot’s going to feel different,” Agbo said. “I’ve just been worried about getting in the gym, getting my reps up and staying consistent because I know this team needs me as a shooter.”
USC maintained its defensive pressure through the remainder of the first half and did just enough on offense to enter halftime with a 30-23 lead. USC had the lead at the break despite graduate forward Terrance Williams II being the only Trojan other than Claude and Agbo to score a first-half field goal.
Defensively, USC held Oregon to 9-26 shooting and forced nine turnovers. The Ducks only had one player score in double figures in the opening 20 minutes: senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy.
“I think we were more together as a team defensively,” Claude said. “We focused on the little details, especially transition defense. I think we did a good job of stopping their transition defense.”
The Trojans faced some resistance from the Ducks to begin the second half, as Oregon began the period on a 5-2 run to cut their deficit to four. Following that run, there was little scoring or momentum for either side up until the 16:16 mark of the second half, when Williams drove the ball along the baseline and spun inside before throwing down a poster dunk over sophomore forward Kwame Evans Jr., sending Galen Center into a frenzy. The play extended USC’s lead to eight and the Trojans eventually restored their double-digit lead.
However, Oregon did not go away, as the Trojans held a slim 43-39 lead inside the game’s final 10 minutes. And with the clock under five minutes remaining, the Trojans’ offense began to stall, while Oregon’s could not be stopped. Barthelemy made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 55 and from there, Oregon closed the game out on a 13-5 run to seal a 68-60 victory.
“This team is for sure going to win some Big Ten games,” Agbo said. “We may have dropped this one, but we’re going to dial it back in and go back to work.”
The Trojans shot 34% from the field on Wednesday night and outside of Claude and Agbo, no Trojan scored 10 or more points. Graduate forward Saints Thomas struggled in particular, going 0-6 from the field in 29 minutes of action.
“We need to continue to give our teammates confidence,” Claude said. “We don’t know who’s gonna have a night for our team, so we just need to keep playing together and stay connected.”
Defensively, USC struggled to contain Shelstad, who finished with a game-high 24 points. Shelstad hurt the Trojans on the free-throw line, where he converted 12 of 14 attempts. Barthelemy was Oregon’s second leading scorer with 18 points.
“We have to close the game better, but we have to learn to do that too,” Musselman said. “Other than defensively down the stretch, the effort was there.”
The Trojans will look to get back in the win column as USC takes on Washington on the road Saturday.