LOS ANGELES — By the second half, the deep-cardinal paint on the edge of the court by USC’s bench became a runway for Eric Musselman’s pacing, the hardwood seeing 40 minutes of sheer emotional torment from the Trojans’ head coach.
USC’s men’s basketball coach had tried everything against Wisconsin, searching for any semblance of adrenaline he could physically inject from his own veins. In came Clark Slajchert amid a sleepy first half Saturday, the deep-reserve guard finding a few rotational minutes. In came third-string big Harrison Hornery late in the first half, as center Rashaun Agee dealt with foul trouble — rather than starting center Josh Cohen. Musselman’s hands rotated, from tip to buzzer, in a variety of postures: upraised in disbelief, covering his face in disgust, behind his head in dismay.
By the end of Saturday’s 84-69 loss to No. 24 Wisconsin, though, Musselman’s hands stayed crossed over his biceps in simple defeat, the Trojans’ Big Ten momentum thoroughly quashed by a Badgers program that outplayed them in virtually every facet of basketball.
Wisconsin outrebounded them. Wisconsin out-assisted them. Wisconsin committed fewer fouls. Wisconsin committed fewer turnovers. A second-half surge cut the Badgers’ one-time 19-point-lead to three, led by forward Saint Thomas, who was excellent with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. But USC’s ballhandlers struggled to initiate offense down the stretch, and the Badgers pulled away as the Trojans (11-7) dropped to 3-4 in the Big Ten.
Late in the first half, a long-armed Wisconsin defense giving USC fits, came one of the ugliest possessions in recent USC basketball memory. A pass was tipped. Desmond Claude’s dribble was poked and recovered. A last-gasp toss to Saint Thomas went skidding into the backcourt for a shot-clock violation, 24 seconds gone by without USC even coming close to putting up a shot.
Musselman, from his pacing post by the scorer’s table, ventured several yards out on the hardwood to scream at redshirt freshman Wesley Yates III. Yates III simply raised his hands, in apparent confusion. There was little, ultimately, to do.
Wisconsin outplayed USC throughout the first half Saturday, as a Trojans team riding an impressive two-game win-streak suddenly reverted to bad habits. After finding a flow state in a 27-assist performance in Tuesday’s win over Iowa, Musselman said coaches have incorporated a new play with each passing game, offensive IQ and execution both improving exponentially among a group of transfers.
“I think early in the year, we would run a play and they would get to the first option, and then we just kind of, froze,” Musselman said, on Tuesday. “And now, I think we’re getting to third and fourth options, and then we’re, our open offense, our flash game, when plays break down.”
They froze, again, on Saturday. Dribble-handoff sets went nowhere, or were poked away by badgering Badgers. Leading scorer Desmond Claude went ice-cold after a month of stellar play, missing a couple layups and finishing the first half scoreless. Isolations from Claude and Thomas largely came up empty. USC recorded a measly four first-half assists against nine turnovers, no semblance of offensive rhythm, as Badgers guard John Blackwell got hot early and led Wisconsin to a 42-27 halftime lead on the back of 16 first-half points.
Needing a spark, though, USC got an inferno, from a forward who wears his heart on his sleeve. Thomas joked after USC’s win over Iowa that he still didn’t quite know his role on this team: he was an “Army Swiss Knife,” he put it Tuesday. And he placed his finger squarely on Galen’s pulse in the second half, draining a triple to follow Max Klesmit’s bucket, hitting another a minute and a half later, snaking off a pick-and-roll for a mid-range pullup to suddenly cap off a 13-0 USC run.
And as Wisconsin called a timeout, Thomas lost himself in the fury, momentarily, running and pounding the scorer’s table in sheer adrenaline.
He was invaluable, as was Agee, who finished with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in another stretch of heavy-impact minutes that could force Musselman to think about starting him. But Wisconsin broke off a 29-17 run over the final 9:16, as Blackwell closed USC out, finishing with a game-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting.