BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Oumar Ballo was always going to present a challenge for a USC team that doesn’t feature a lot of size.
The 7-foot former Arizona standout powered his way to 23 points and Indiana erased an early double-digit deficit to hand USC an 82-69 loss on Wednesday night.
Playing for the first time at Bloomington, USC built a quick 10-point lead on a layup by Wesley Yates III eight minutes into the game, 19-9. The Trojans (9-6 overall, 1-3 Big Ten) used sound defensive rotations to limit Ballo’s impact early and moved the ball well on offense, but the Hoosiers (13-3, 4-1) found their rhythm and went to work.
Kanaan Carlyle knocked down a 3-pointer to get the Hoosiers within 24-22 with 6:18 left, and Myles Rice hit a pair at the free-throw line. A Chibuzo Agbo 3-pointer put USC in front 27-24, but Ballo grabbed a rebound, drew a foul and converted a pair of free throws. A two-time All-Pac-12 performer at Arizona, Ballo added two more from the line, a layup and a short jumper to help Indiana draw even at intermission, 38-38.
The Hoosiers took control with an 11-1 run early in the second half, establishing a 49-41 advantage on Trey Galloway’s layup from Rice at the 16:09 mark. Ballo dunks 90 seconds apart helped establish a 57-47 lead, and when the Trojans got within single digits down the stretch, Rice found the big man for a layup and a three-point play to hold USC at bay.
Ballo, who was coming off a 25-point, 13-rebound performance in a 77-71 victory over Penn State, shot 9 for 11 from the field and added eight rebounds and two blocked shots, finishing just shy of his third straight double-double.
Rice shot 9 for 11 at the free-throw line and finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Luke Goode was 4 for 5 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points. Galloway contributed 11 points and six assists.
Yates finished with 18 points to lead USC. Desmond Claude added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists and Saint Thomas and Agbo each added 11 points. USC cooled off in the second half, shooting just 10 for 29 from the field.
“We have a lot of players that have transferred up from the mid-majors, so they are going through some stuff, and our leading scorer is a freshman,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “It’s my first year in the job and it’s my job to develop a player like Wesley. There are going to be a lot of learning curves when you use a player like Yates for 38 minutes in his fourth Big Ten game.”
“We want to win games, obviously, but I think anyone that watches us can say we compete. We go through some offensive dry spells that hurt us. We thought that we had an opportunity to beat Oregon and Michigan. We played pretty well for 25 minutes tonight, whether we ran out of gas or didn’t get a whole lot of production from our bench, but I knew in year one that culture would be important.”
Indiana’s Mackenzie Mgbako scored 20 points in the win against Penn State but was 0 for 8 from the field and did not score.
The Hoosiers are off to their best start in conference play since the 2015-16 season.
UP NEXT
USC plays at No. 13 Illinois on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT.