LOS ANGELES — In approximately one day, or a few days, or a few more, Tom Izzo will go down as the winningest coach in Big Ten men’s basketball history. And it has been more rare than not, in three decades of history at Michigan State, that his programs have failed to properly execute on a scout.
And yet Desmond Claude simply beat them when the Spartans came to Los Angeles, the kid from Connecticut simply outmuscling Michigan State defenders and Izzo offered him the highest of compliments after his program was shocked by USC on the first of February.
“We all know the straw that stirs the drink,” Izzo said, “is Claude.”
All. All know. Eric Musselman, the coach who has been abundantly blunt with his players on USC’s faults, knows. It’s the reason, back in his staff’s Manhattan Beach-rental Portal House in the spring, that Musselman screamed when Claude called to confirm his commitment to USC. It’s the reason, when Claude was working out his injured knee on an exercise bike late in that first half against Michigan State, that Musselman told USC’s team doctor that he simply didn’t have another minute to wait.
“Let’s go,” Musselman mimed after the game, tapping his wrist as if tapping a watch.
Claude iced that game, the biggest win of Musselman’s first season at USC (13-10 overall, 5-7 Big Ten), finishing with 19 gritty points on 6-of-13 shooting. The point guard had come up grabbing at his knee after a hard first-half fall, and groaned and hobbled out of the post-game press conference, flashing a smile that seemed to suggest he simply needed a bag of ice.
A week later, he hasn’t seen the court since, and USC’s season dangles on the brink without him.
USC threw everything it had at Northwestern in Claude’s absence, Penn transfer Clark Slajchert authoring one of the performances of his life in a 24-point effort. But they fell one jumper short, courtesy of the Wildcats’ Nick Martinelli. USC threw everything it had at Purdue a few days later, sophomore guard Wesley Yates III exploding for 30 points as Claude still remained sidelined. But they fell more than a few jumpers short as then-seventh-ranked Purdue handled them comfortably.
A source with knowledge of the situation told the Southern California News Group on Monday afternoon that Claude was still questionable for Tuesday night’s home game against Penn State (13-11, 3-10). And USC can little afford any more missed time from Claude, as a loss to the Nittany Lions – sitting in the basement of the Big Ten standings – would likely crater any hopes at an NCAA Tournament berth.
“We’re putting the ball in his hands,” Musselman said of Claude, after a Dec. 15 victory over Montana State. “We rely on his one-on-one ability, we rely on his ability to kind of break people down, and turn the game into an advantage, whether it’s four-on-five or three-on-five.”
He’d come to USC to grow as a lead ball handler and a Trojans team without a truly traditional floor general hinges upon his aggressiveness attacking the lane, the 6-foot-6 Claude both leading USC in plus-minus and tied as the fifth-highest scorer in the Big Ten in conference play (19.3 points per game). If he’s not active for USC’s homestand – which includes another favorable matchup against Minnesota (12-12, 4-9) on Saturday – Musselman will have to continue getting creative in generating offense.
Slajchert, perhaps the closest thing to a true backup point guard on this wing-heavy roster, followed his Northwestern breakout with a 2-for-10 struggle against Purdue. Streaky guard Chibuzo Agbo Jr., USC’s most willing sniper, is shooting 20% from 3-point range in his last six games. Forward Saint Thomas, who seemed to be hitting his stride as a complementary scorer in mid-January, took just one shot in 35 minutes against Purdue and has scored a total of 12 points in his last three games.
Musselman’s best option, if Claude is scratched again Tuesday, is likely to hand the reins to Yates, a sentence that would have sprouted rapid grey hairs not two months ago. The freshman’s maturation as a poised shot-creator, though, has been exhilarating, Yates now up to 16.7 points per game on 54/47/73 shooting splits in Big Ten play.
“He has a lot of things he has to do on this team,” Thomas said of Yates, after USC’s victory over Michigan State.
“He’s embracing it too, for sure,” Claude said that day. “He wants to have that role.”
Yates will have it all he can handle during a key homestand, this USC roster hobbled as March peeks around the corner.
PENN STATE AT USC
When: Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Where: Galen Center
TV/radio: Big Ten Network/USCTrojans.com
MINNESOTA AT USC
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Where: Galen Center
TV/radio: Big Ten Network/USCTrojans.com