Ruben Report: USC Defeats Grambling State From The Foul Line

The USC Trojans beat the Grambling State Tigers Sunday afternoon 80-69 to improve to 5-1 but it wasn’t easy. The official crowd of 3068 was restless much of the game until the Trojans reached a double-digit lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Tigers cut the lead to 2 with 4:36 left but USC quickly regained its comfortable lead behind Desmond Claude who drove repeatedly into the lane and drew fouls.

USC played what head coach Eric Musselman would call a switching man defense in the first half (which looks like a matchup zone) but it did not work. Grambling made 14-24 first half shots and 5-12 from three for a one point half time lead.

Behind a very strong first half by Josh Cohen who finished with 18 points on only 8 shots (making 7) and tied for team high with 6 rebounds, USC was able to keep pace, but just barely. Muss said: ”Josh was phenomenal.”

It has become routine for the Trojans to struggle with a good opposing point guard and Grambling’s Kintavious Dozier had a strong game, scoring most of his 17 points in the first half. Foul trouble limited him to only 30 minutes or the result might have been different.

USC switched to a more traditional switching defense and had much more success in the second half. The game stats are remarkably similar except in one area. Both teams made 25 shots, though Grambling had 5 more attempts. Both made 7 threes. USC outrebounded the Tigers by only 1 and the turnovers were also within 1.

The difference was foul shots. Grambling was 12-14 while the Trojans made 23 of 33 attempts. Muss has said that he wants his team to drive and get to the line and that’s what won this game. Buzo Agbo made all 5 of his free throws, TWill 7-8 and Desmond Claude got to the line for 11 shots, though making only 6. The Trojans repeatedly got the ball to Desmond in the closing minutes and let him drive into the lane and score and/or get to the line.

Josh And Buzo Led The Trojans’ Scoring

The Trojans got tremendous scoring by several players on limited shot opportunities. Josh played a very solid 20 minutes. It was surprising that he didn’t play much in the second half since he had such a strong offensive game but Muss said he was looking for more defense in the second half and the numbers suggest his strategy worked. For all of his offensive heroics Josh was a -1 for the game.

Buzo played 30 minutes and was +13. He led the team with 21 points, making half of his 12 shots and 4-9 from three. The Trojans’ offense functions much more efficiently when he is shooting well from outside.

Buso struggled for a few games but has shot very well in the last two. “I didn’t feel like I ever lost confidence” in my shot, he said. Josh added: “In the film room we’ve been looking to get him (Buzo) open shots.”

Desmond was also +13 in 30 minutes and finished with 14 points. “Desmond has been a closer. We spread the court and tried to let him finish plays,” said Muss. Desmond scored 14 points on only 7 shots. Muss added that they wanted to have the ball in Desmond’s hands.

TWill was a +12 even though he only scored 7 points, all from the line. And Clark Slajchert played an important 16 minutes and was +9.

Saint Thomas played almost 31 minutes but made only 3-9 shots. He struggled for much of the game, turning the ball over 6 times (almost half of the team’s 13) against only 3 assists.

Muss Wanted To Play Smaller In The Second Half

Muss was unhappy with only 37 points in the first half and changed both the defense and the on court personnel to get more speed and energy on the court. He said that “their (Grambling’s) zone is super aggressive” and to counter it USC made changes at the half.

Gambling was getting clean looks in the first half; this has been a pattern for the Trojans. “Why that’s happening is a mystery,” Muss said.

Buzo said: “We’re still working on coverages to get it right.”

It appeared that too often Trojan defenders left their feet and flew by a player on a shot fake and the shooter waited for the open shot to be available.

The “Crowd” Came Alive In The Middle Of The Second Half

Grambling had a nice turnout and their fans were more engaged than the Trojan fans until a two minute sequence beginning at about the 13 minute mark of the second half. Clark went coast to coast to tie the score on one of the few fast break baskets.

The Trojans then went on a quick run and raced out to a 60-53 lead. Although Grambling had one last run to get within 2 the feel in the building was the Trojans would be able to close this game out and they did.

The play of the game occurred in the first half. With the shot clock shot winding down to 1 and the ball in Josh’s hands well outside the three point line on the left side of the basket he heaved a prayer and it was so long that it banked in. He had a wide grin and the crowd had a momentary celebration.

The Lineup Switches Appeared To Be Driven By Muss’ “Feel” For How The Game Was Going

Kevin Patton and Matt Knowling started in place of Desmond and Buzo. Kevin played only 3 minutes and the other young players also had more limited opportunities than in other games. Wesley Yates played over 9 minutes but was mostly a non factor. Isaiah Elohim played only 1:22 and Jalen Shelley did not play.

Rashaun Agee has had limited minutes in recent games spelling Josh inside. On Sunday he only played 2:36; he did not see any action after the half when Muss went small.

And One

The coaching staff has set a goal of at least 200 passes per game, 100 in each half. USC had 123 passes in the first half and well over 200 for the game.

The Trojans will travel to Palm Desert after classes on Tuesday for the game against St Mary’s on Thursday and a second game on Friday against either ASU or New Mexico. Muss said that in his opinion St Mary’s is as well coached as any team in the country and is a definite Tournament team. ASU has retooled and New Mexico has a marquee win over UCLA. This will be a difficult two-game stretch.