Ruben Report: The USC Trojans Use A Big Second Half To Rout CSUN

The USC Trojans needed a three from well beyond the top of the key by Kevin Patton, which just beat the halftime buzzer to take a 40-39 lead into the locker room. The second half was completely different; USC outscored Cal State Northridge 50-30 and won the game easily, 90-69. The game was the Trojans’ third 20+ point win in a row, something coach Eric Musselman said after the game is very hard to do. The Trojans are now 8-4 heading into Sunday’s final non conference game against Southern University.

The path to this win was an exact reversal from what USC did in the first two wins in this recent stretch. In the wins over Washington and Montana State, the Trojans were on fire in the first half and built large leads. They coasted in the second half of both games. In this one, a great second half was needed.

The Trojans were 12 1/2 point favorites, a surprisingly small spread. Although CSUN was 7-3 coming in they had lost to UC Riverside and beat Montana State by only 3, the same team USC clobbered a few days ago.

It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall in the Trojans’ halftime locker room. USC again started the game very hot, jumping to a 22-10 lead. Muss said that he never had a team at any level establish such early big leads three games in a row. However, CSUN didn’t let the game get away early.

The Matadors took a 36-35 lead with 4:11 left in the half. The Trojans had lost their energy and all of their momentum. The Matadors were the aggressors in the late stages of the half and played harder on the defensive end and on the boards. The Trojans turned the ball over and had a couple of shots blocked.

Both teams shot the ball well in the first twenty minutes. CSUN made 14-31 shots and 4-10 from three. The Trojans were 13-27 and 5-8 from three.

Muss said that he believed the players didn’t fully grasp how hard they need to play and the pace they need to play.

“They out-reacted us to loose balls and ou rebounded us,” he said.

The Trojans Dominated The Second Half

USC’s offense stayed hot and the defense was much improved after halftime. USC scored the first 7 points of the half and they maintained a constant 8-10 point lead until about 12 minutes were left. At that point they began to slowly build on the lead which reached 25 with 3:06 left in the game. Two threes by Saint Thomas broke the game open and CSUN was done.

Once again USC played from ahead almost the entire game. They led for 35 1/2 minutes compared to 1 minute for CSUN.

The energy was much improved across the entire team after halftime. Matt Knowling blocked a dunk attempt. Later in the half the Trojans got the ball under their basket after a timeout with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. They ran a play to perfection. The player movement left Buzo Agbo open in the corner and he took the inbounds pass and swished a three.

Muss said the Trojans played with a much better pace in the second half and they had added some new plays that they used. He wanted his team to get to the free throw line much more and that mission was accomplished: after going 5-7 from the line in the first half the Trojans were 23-27 in the second. Desmond Claude once again did a great job with the ball and drew 8 fouls, making 9-11 from the line.

“We took a step back in the first half”, said Muss. But USC won the second half by 20. CSUN made only 10-28 second-half shots and 1-10 threes. They got to the line for 10 attempts. The Trojans made 10-22 second-half shots and 7-11 threes.

CSUN has three players who are good scorers. The game plan was to hold two in check and take them out of the game offensively. The Matadors’ Marcus Allen, Jr. was held to 2-9 from the field and missed his two three-point attempts. Scotty Washington missed all 4 of his threes and all 6 of his shots. The Trojans also made an adjustment at halftime and limited the third scorer.

Several Trojans Stepped Up Big

USC made 12-19 threes. After the game Buzo said that CSUN was giving the Trojans room for open threes while they tried to stop drives. Desmond Claude said that they took what the defense gave them. He added that part of his game is to draw fouls.

Muss has put the ball in Desmond’s hands late in several games and Desmond has responded. As has become a pattern Desmond scored 21 points on only half as many shots (5-11), making 2-3 from three and 9-11 from the line. He also had 9 assists against only 1 turnover in just under 37 minutes.

Buzo played 39 minutes and made 6-10 shots including 5-7 threes and 6-7 from the line for a team high 23 points. He did not have a turnover.

Saint Thomas was the third member of the group that led the Trojans. He scored 16 points on only 8 shots, making half of his shots including 3-4 from three. He led the Trojans with 7 rebounds.

Muss said after the game that one of the keys for the Trojans’ greatly improved recent play was the improved three-point shooting by Desmond and Saint. With Terrance Williams out they need other players besides Buzo to make threes to open the lane for Desmond and others.

Josh Cohen played a very effective 19 minutes. He scored 12 points on only 6 shots, making 3 and 6-8 free throws. He made the first two baskets of the game for the Trojans and keyed their early run. He also drew 6 fouls and had 3 assists against only 1 TO.

As well as Rashaun Agee played in the last game he had a minimal impact at the offensive end in this one. Playing 17 minutes he took and made only 1 shot. Where he did contribute was on the defensive end. The Trojans were noticeably stronger inside when he was in the game.

Wesley Yates led the young players, getting the start again. He got caught in the air a couple of times with nowhere to go with the ball. After an offensive rebound by the Trojans Wesley took a bad shot and immediately was taken out of the game though he came back later. He played aggressive defense and helped defend the Matadors’ quick guards. In almost 26 minutes he made only 1-7 shots.

Isaiah Elohim, Jalen Shelley and Kevin Patton all played and scored.

Could Terrance Williams Redshirt?

TWill’s wrist is in a cast and there is no timetable for his return. After his cast comes off he will need to rehab before he begins to practice. By then he may have missed most of the season.

The NCAA redshirt rules are much harsher than in football where a player can play in a third of the games and still redshirt. In basketball, if a player is in a single game he can’t redshirt. An exception exists for a player who suffers a season-ending injury and hasn’t played in a third of the games.

If it appears Terrance will not be able to return until very late in the season he and the coaches will need to consider whether to petition the NCAA for a medical redshirt and an extra season.

And One

Desmond and Buzo both credited the coaches for the team’s improvement and their own improved play. Desmond said: “The game is slowing down for a lot of us.” They both said that Will Conroy and Quincy Pondexter have been in the NBA where they want to go and the coaches have helped them individually and as a team.

Muss was sick Wednesday and almost missed the game. Harry Hornery was out with a hamstring strain.

Several players from the University of Chicago’s basketball stream were among the 4,039 in attendance. Chicago is a Division 3 team and played Cal Tech Tuesday night.

After the game, Muss talked about high school recruiting. He said he wants to build a wall around LA and keep the best players home. The one high school player USC has signed, Jerry Easter, is a highly ranked 6’3” guard but is not from SoCal.

From things Muss has said previously and again a bit Wednesday night my impression is that he only wants to sign elite players who he is confident will be very good college players. In today’s portal world my impression is that he doesn’t want to sign developmental players because they may not stay around long enough to develop.

Finally, the Trojans are still not ranked very high in the computer rankings after the big margin home wins over midmajors. After this win, USC jumped 17 places but is still only ranked 96 in the NET. They are one place behind Washington, a team they recently demolished on the road, which makes no sense. They are 80th in the KenPom rankings, ten spots ahead of UW.

USC will have plenty of opportunities to move up starting with the upcoming home game against Michigan which is currently at 25 in the KenPom rankings.