The piercing sound of cheering Bruin fans permeated the tunnels leading to the Trojans’ locker room, where head coach Eric Musselman only had one message.
“90-63.”
That’s what Musselman scribbled on the whiteboard following the team’s largest deficit conference loss of the season against crosstown rival UCLA.
The Bruins grabbed possession at tipoff and never looked back. They allowed just one Trojan basket in the first seven minutes of the game and continued to press even after USC strung together a few shots.
UCLA sprinted to a 14-2 lead with the help of junior forward Tyler Bilodeau’s eight early points.
A 3-point jumper from redshirt freshman guard Wesley Yates III inched USC within five points of UCLA, but Bruin sophomore guard Eric Dailey Jr. gave the crowd something to cheer about with a triple of his own.
Sophomore center Aday Mara decided to silence the Trojans himself and capitalized on two USC turnovers within the last two minutes of the game, one of which resulted in a three-point play that sent the Bruins into halftime with a 39-27 lead.
Yates III was the only Trojan to score more than six points in the first half and closed out the frame with perfect shooting. He went four-of-four from the field — including three-of-three from beyond the arc — and sank all four free throws to claim 16 of USC’s 27 first-half points.
He recorded his 23rd double-digit game of this season with 21 points on Saturday night, along with six rebounds and five assists, but it wasn’t enough to carry the team to victory.
Home court advantage means so much in college basketball. Between UCLA senior night celebrations pre-game, a sea of blue and gold and rather discouraging chants every time a Trojan met the charity stripe, Saturday’s game was a prime example of just that.
But, even when playing in enemy territory as hostile as Pauley Pavilion, there are some things you can’t blame on the environment. Maybe a couple missed free throws here and there or a deflection that leads to a crowd-erupting dunk, but an arena full of Bruin sweatshirts isn’t responsible for 20 Trojan turnovers.
Credit to the Bruins, though, who saw those frequent giveaways as an opportunity to grab an additional 37 points.
“They didn’t understand, even in game one, and they certainly didn’t understand today what it means to the student body, USC, what it means to boosters and alumni… we played the game like we were playing any normal game,” Musselman said on his players’ grasp of the rivalry game. “It’s not supposed to be a normal game,”
Musselman experimented with his substitutions throughout the second half – bringing on sophomore guard Kevin Patton Jr., freshman forward Jalen Shelley and graduate guard Clark Slajchert – but nothing was enough to permanently disrupt UCLA’s offensive groove until it was too late.
Slajchert came off the bench in the second half and played efficiently, putting up nine points and collecting one rebound, block and steal.
Yates III, Slajchert and graduate forward Josh Cohen combined for a final 9-0 run in a last-minute attempt to loosen UCLA’s chokehold.
“They just manhandled us and beat us in every facet of the game,” Musselman said about the Bruins. “We weren’t prepared to play zone [defense]. I can tell you that. We were unprepared to play zone because I never played zone in my life. But when you can’t guard anybody, you have got to do something.”
What now?
Eternal optimists will believe this painful, heart-wrenching loss is a crucial step in helping the Trojans reach their fullest potential in the Big Ten Tournament this week. Perhaps going 2-10 since the win over Michigan State last month, including losing all five road games, wasn’t enough to mentally shake the Trojans from a more-than-disappointing season.
This needed to happen.
Maybe a 27-point loss against UCLA is the wake-up call USC needs before heading into the last game(s) of the 2024-25 season. If not, Trojan fans can only hope for an improved disposition next season.
“We have got to get a lot better,” Musselman said. “We will, we’ve got to take better care of the basketball. We’ve got to, got to get some defenders in here. Got to build a team of competitors and, you know, sort of be a busy time for us here in two weeks.”
USC will play on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.