Eric Musselman sat behind a microphone at the bitter end of a bitter regular season for USC, armed only with the same explanations for how a once-hopeful season could come so undone.
There were unfortunate injuries to point to, he said, and continuity issues to contend with. Then there was the pesky problem of Big Ten travel. And at home, well … “Our home court has not been much of a home-court advantage,” Musselman said, after UCLA chants rang out through Galen Center all night.
But none of that rationale, as true or convenient as it might sound, could adequately explain how the Trojans ended up here at their season’s nadir, with seven straight losses heading into the Big Ten tournament, the latest an 89-68 rout at the hands of their crosstown rival.
The seventh of those losses looked strikingly similar to the other six. Once again, USC’s defense collapsed in the second half, as UCLA shot better than 60%. And once again, the Trojans’ streaky shooting and lack of presence on the glass made it impossible for them to keep up.
“Obviously our struggling down the stretch has not been characteristic of our past programs,” Musselman said. “It’s actually been the exact opposite.”
Yet at USC, it’s all we’ve seen through two seasons with Musselman at the helm. The Trojans lost eight of 10 to finish out the regular season a year ago, and at the time, the coach also blamed injuries to their top two guards, Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates, for the collapse.
USC guard Alijah Arenas, right, drives past UCLA guard Skyy Clark during the Trojans’ loss Saturday night at Galen Center.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Injuries proved even more devastating this season. USC was without five-star freshman Alijah Arenas until late January and lost Rodney Rice, its starting point guard, to an injury in November. He referred to his Trojans as “the most injured team in college basketball.”
“It’s not an excuse,” Musselman said. “It’s a fact.”
But there were inexcusable losses along the way, losses that didn’t hinge on one player’s absence — and might’ve singlehandedly changed the conversation over USC’s season. Among them: A second-half collapse at home to Washington, a blown lead in the final minute to Oregon and an unraveling at the hands of Northwestern, which was winless in conference at the time.
Even still, the Trojans might have salvaged their tournament hopes if they found something down the stretch. Instead, the team’s top scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, was dismissed last weekend. Musselman wouldn’t offer any further comment on that decision. But by Saturday night, USC looked as lost as ever.
“We just have to stay together,” said senior Terrance Williams. “I feel like when adversity hits, sometimes we tend to go our separate ways. We’ve got to just stick together, man.”
It looked, for a brief time, like USC might manage that against UCLA. Even as busloads of Bruins fans descended on Galen Center, turning USC’s arena into hostile territory, the Trojans showed signs of life early on. Midway through the first half, the Trojans had played their crosstown rivals to a tie, 21-21.
Any hope stitched together during that stretch came apart just a few minutes later, though. USC hit just four shots the rest of the half, while UCLA hit 10 of 12 at one point. For the final 4:40 before halftime, the Trojans didn’t pull down a single rebound.
Arenas would do his best to drag USC back from the brink. He scored 13 in the second half and 20 overall. During one spurt, the freshman put up eight points in less than four minutes, cutting UCLA’s lead to 11.
But the spark was brief. The Bruins came firing back, led by Donovan Dent, who basically took a blowtorch to the Trojans’ defensive plans. After scoring a season-high 30 points against USC in their last meeting, Dent tallied 25 in the rematch.
“We had a problem staying in front of Dent,” said forward Jacob Cofie. “Eleven for 15, that’s unacceptable.”
That was just the start of USC’s issues. But as its season continues to descend further into disaster, Musselman assured that things were still moving in the right direction ahead of Wednesday’s game against Washington in the conference tournament.
“We feel this is an NCAA tournament team if we were healthy,” Musselman said. “We have no doubt that it was — or would be.”
Except now, we’ll never know for sure. And after a seventh-straight loss and a second straight season left spiraling, hypotheticals could only carry USC and its coach so far.