LOS ANGELES — The chants rained down as Wesley Yates III stepped to the free-throw line with six minutes to play, rattling from the crypts of the Galen Center to its upper decks, a sobering reminder that USC was somehow playing this Saturday afternoon in a hostile environment on its own home floor.
“Go green! Go white!” a legion of Spartans fans chanted, bloodthirsty for a miss, some behind the baseline rising and waving in an attempt to distract Yates.
The Trojans had no home-court advantage. They hadn’t all year. They were dealing with a lot, as a weary Musselman reflected after Monday’s loss to UCLA, trying to build a first-year Big Ten program in front of a home floor half-dominated Saturday by Spartans colors. Momentum inside Galen swung on Michigan State’s dime, and it could’ve rattled a USC program that’s struggled to close all year – could’ve rattled Yates, a true freshman who’d struggled at the line at times in January.
Except Yates, in this moment, swished one. Swished another. In the edge-of-seat minutes to follow, USC didn’t budge an inch. And with 37 seconds left, forward Saint Thomas took an inbound pass and sailed an outlet to Yates, who caught it in stride, took a couple steps, and threw down a tomahawk jam to seal a 70-64 win.
Thomas turned back toward the student section and squatted in a roar. Yates flexed, skipping his way back down the floor on defense. And chants of “Go green! Go white!” were washed away by the roars of cardinal-and-gold faithful, collectively witnessing the shining moment of Musselman’s early tenure at USC, a momentous upset of the No. 7 team in the nation.
Maybe they didn’t have a dominant home crowd. Maybe they didn’t have a cohesive roster, even. But Musselman had built this USC roster to play tough, through its flaws, and his players had all come to Southern California from a host of mid-majors to compete at this very level.
This was gritty. This was rough. USC shot 42% from the floor, and committed 11 turnovers against nine assists. But they won as Musselman’s teams had always won: wearing down Michigan State on a parade of late-game free throws, wearing down Michigan State with frenzied defense, center Rashaun Agee switching onto a guard on a crucial possession with 39 seconds left and locking up a Spartans guard so thoroughly he forced a shot-clock violation.
Agee grinned, ecstatic, running back down the floor and slapping hands with assistant Quincy Pondexter. He’d played tough, in the first start of his USC career, tasked by Musselman to battle in heavy minutes against an athletic Michigan State frontcourt. So, too, did Yates, who finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting. So, too, did point guard Desmond Claude, who somehow led USC with 19 after crumpling to the hardwood early in the first half.
With Michigan State mounting a quick 9-0 run to answer an early USC 22-7 lead, Claude raced back down the floor after a turnover to swat away a layup by Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr. But Claude immediately clutched at his right knee, a thin-lipped grimace etched on his face.
He draped his arm over a couple teammates and headed straight for the locker room, USC’s most important offensive player unable to put any weight on his dominant knee.
Incomprehensibly, not five minutes of clock later, he emerged and reappeared at the scorer’s table.
He stretched his knee, waiting to sub in, a surge of momentum as wing Chibuzo Agbo Jr. – huge with 12 first-half points – hit a 3-pointer. Claude poked and prodded, gingerly, through final first-half minutes as USC clung to a 35-32 lead into the break.
In the second half, though, the Trojans’ offensive engine roared back to life. A few minutes in, he sized up a Michigan State defender as the shot clock waned and fired off a step-back triple. The next possession, he stampeded down the lane and flung a looping layup wildly off glass, giving USC a six-point lead.
And for the next 17 minutes, at every second-half opportunity, USC warded off a Michigan State stable teeming with athletes. After an and-one finish from Agee, Yates had his dribble picked clean off by Fears, who raced for an easy dunk in a quick momentum-shifter.
Perhaps, if this was November, Musselman would’ve yanked Yates back to the bench. But he’d become too valuable over the past months as a floor-spacer and offensive spark, shooting 45% from deep since joining the starting lineup Dec. 7. And Yates continued to light up Galen with his gumption, knocking down two critical catch-and-shoot threes to push USC’s lead to double digits.
Michigan State never relented, despite never once holding a lead, sending their fans into a frenzy as a 3-pointer by Spartans wing Jaden Adkins cut USC’s lead to three with 8:37 left. But USC won a defensive battle down the stretch, and their players mobbed one another as the buzzer sounded on a statement win, Thomas leaving the floor waving a cheeky goodbye to the Michigan State legion who’d once jeered Yates from lower-basin seats.