On a night where Galen Center was taken over by the Illini faithful, nothing seemed to go USC’s way in a blowout loss. After it was announced that graduate forward Chad Baker-Mazara – who had been expected to play all week – would be out, and freshman guard Alijah Arenas was also sidelined due to sickness, a result like this seemed inevitable.
The Fighting Illini attacked the Trojans from tipoff, sprinting out to a quick 15-3 ambush. At no point in the game did it feel like USC had a chance to come away with a victory. Illinois’ offense put up historically efficient numbers, shooting 52% from the field, 45% from 3-point range and making 24 of its 26 free throw attempts. In the first half alone, Illinois had KenPom’s most efficient offensive half they had ever tracked in 30 years of existence.
That efficiency, paired with a hobbled USC team, resulted in a 101-65 loss. Only senior forward Ezra Ausar and sophomore forward Jacob Cofie finished the game in double digits for the Trojans, compared to seven players for Illinois. The Trojans struggled to score, and USC never led at any point in the game, tying Illinois for just 48 total seconds.
“If you don’t have your A game, you’re not going to be able to compete with [Illinois],” USC head coach Eric Musselman said. “Tonight, we didn’t even have our C game.”
While this loss will sting for Musselman and his crew, they cannot dwell on the result with the NCAA tournament rapidly approaching. Currently, the team is right on the bubble in almost every projection. USC currently has one Quad 1 win against Wisconsin, and is an astonishing 8-1 in Quad 2, but its home loss to Northwestern could prove to be a thorn in its side. A Quad 3 loss, it’s the kind of blemish teams can’t afford when being compared to other tournament contenders.
Musselman assured reporters that he believed he had a tournament caliber team, but the team can’t play like it did against Illinois.
“We still have a lot to play for and can’t make excuses or feel sorry for ourselves,” Musselman said.
USC has everything to play for, as missing the tournament in Musselman’s first two years with the program could leave a serious stain on his status as head coach. The Trojans still have three Quad 1 games to help bolster their resume and will face crosstown rival UCLA, which is also on the bubble, twice in their last five games.
Luckily enough for the Trojans, they won’t leave the Pacific time zone for the rest of the regular season, giving them a chance to go on a run of wins to impress the selection committee.
At a time like this, they could certainly use a scorer like Baker-Mazara to get a struggling offense moving again, and Musselman said they will “take it day by day” with him.
USC will host a struggling Oregon squad back at Galen Center in a must-win scenario this Saturday, February 21 at 1 p.m.