LOS ANGELES — USC started Wednesday night’s game looking like a team that had recently come off a long cross-country flight after enduring a third consecutive loss. The Trojans came out lethargic against Ohio State and struggled to find the basket.
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, started out like a team that had enjoyed the unusually warm winter temperatures in Southern California after playing against UCLA on Sunday. They were rested, started strong and led by as much as 17 points in the first half, but they found themselves scrambling in the final minutes.
The Trojans got a 27-point performance from freshman Wesley Yates III and rallied to tie the score with a little more than a minute to play before losing, 87-82, at the Galen Center. USC has lost four straight and six of its past seven.
After losing at Rutgers on Sunday, USC coach Eric Musselman took issue with a Big Ten travel schedule that has teams crossing three time zones several times throughout the season. He worried about the toll the trip could take on the Trojans.
The Trojans coach said his team needed to “be resilient. We have to get our minds and our bodies right to get ready for an Ohio State game.”
USC (14-14 overall, 6-11 Big Ten) displayed little resistance early but found their shooting touch in the second half – 15 for 23 (65.2%) – to send the outcome to the final minutes.
Trailing 76-69, Rashaun Agee scored on a layup and Yates followed with another basket to further trim the margin to 76-73 with 4:51 left. Desmond Claude pulled USC within one point on a driving up through traffic.
The Buckeyes, however, answered with two quick baskets for an 80-75 lead. The Trojans responded and tied the score on a hook shot by Agee with 1:07 remaining. On the ensuing play out of a timeout, Devin Royal drove baseline, spun into the lane and banked in a shot while drawing a foul on USC’s Sean Stewart with 56 seconds left. Royal made the free throw for an 83-80 lead and Ohio State (16-13, 8-10) held on when Yates’ 3-point attempt with six seconds left bounced off the front of the rim.
Yates shot 9 for 16 from the field and 7 for 9 from the free-throw line to pace the Trojans, and Chibuzo Agbo finished with 17 points, shooting 4 for 6 behind the arc.
USC struggled to stop the Buckeyes from perimeter, where they made shot 11 for 20 from 3-point range. Ohio State was a blistering 8 for 9 from deep in the first half and shot 73.1% overall before halftime.
Ohio State continued its dominance in the second half and finished the game shooting 54% overall, while neutralizing the Trojans. Ohio State is known for its slow pace and used that to keep the hosts from gaining any real traction until midway through the second half.
Yates cut what had been a 14-point halftime deficit to six points with a driving layup at the 11:48 mark and kept surging, but Ohio State buried its 11th 3-pointer, a step-back shot by Micah Parrish, for a 72-65 lead with 8:16 left.
USC showed a bit of energy late in the first half, getting within 40-31 with 4:18 left in the half, but that reserve quickly faded as the Buckeyes surged back ahead by 17 with 1:02 left and took a 52-38 lead to the locker room.
Both teams came into the game looking to improve their seeding – or just secure a spot – in the Big Ten Tournament.
With three regular-season games remaining, USC is no lock for the conference tournament. Only 15 of the 18 teams qualify for the event and the Trojans are part of a six-team cluster in the bottom third of the standings.
Parrish and Bruce Thornton each scored 20 points for Ohio State, which ended its own three-game skid. John Mobley Jr. scored 18 points and Royal added 13.
More to come on this story.