Thursday night, USC men’s basketball found itself locked into the worst kind of triple overtime battle. USC was hosting Troy at home and expected to win comfortably, but instead, the other Trojans nearly upset USC.
If USC wants to become a great team this season, it can’t play down to the level of teams like Troy.
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But one epic moment saved the day. With USC losing by two points and the clock striking 0 in triple overtime, Jordan Marsh hit a three-pointer buzzer beater to give USC the win.
But it wasn’t just any buzzer beater. Marsh hit the shot flying through the air and double clutching. It was an improbable, nearly impossible shot that made highlight reels everywhere.
Take a look if you haven’t seen it yet:
But what makes this more special is that the unlikely shot came from an equally unlikely source. Many Trojan fans and college basketball fans around the country didn’t know Jordan Marsh’s name before that shot. But they do now.
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Curious to learn more about him, and what made his game winning shot so special? Let’s dive in.
Marsh is the smallest player on USC’s roster
Standing at 5’11” and weighing only 146 pounds, Jordan Marsh is both the shortest and lightest player on USC’s roster.
In a sport full of giants, Marsh is exactly the kind of underdog that is easy to root for.
Marsh went to two smaller schools before USC
Jordan Marsh started his collegiate basketball career at Appalachian State in 2023-24, a team in the Sun Belt conference. Marsh averaged 6.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game for the Mountaineers.
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Then, Marsh transferred to an even smaller school for his sophomore year, UNC Asheville. Playing for the Bulldogs turned out to be a great situation for Marsh, who averaged 18.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season.
Eric Musselman evidently liked what he saw from Marsh last year and took a chance on him this offseason and brought him to USC.
Marsh is a role player for USC
Jordan Marsh has averaged 14.2 minutes per game for USC this season, seventh most on the team. So he’s a starter, but not a primary scorer or star by any means.
He’s averaged 4.2 points, 1 rebound and 2.7 assists per game for the Trojans so far this season.
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Marsh was not having an all-time game against Troy
It’s not like Jordan Marsh took the last shot because he was having an all-time game and USC wanted to feed the hot hand.
Marsh scored only 6 points against Troy, and only made 2 shots including the game winner. He only attempted 4 shots. USC had three other players who scored 20+ points: Chad Baker-Mazara (34), Rodney Rice (26) and Ezra Ausar (22).
The ball simply bounced Marsh’s way on a chaotic possession, and he had no choice but to hoist it up.
Marsh embodied what makes college sports special
In college sports, the game often doesn’t go your way. USC put up a subpar performance against Troy in every sense.
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Some hiccups like that are expected. It’s a game being played by college kids. It’s not always a perfect or even a professional product.
But if USC hadn’t struggled, they wouldn’t have needed a game winning shot. If their final play hadn’t been so messy and chaotic, Marsh never would have taken the epic shot.
As a fan, you always want your team to win. It’s always a bonus if they can do so convincingly, without much stress.
But sometimes you have to embrace the chaos and the drama. Yes, USC needs to get better. But also, this is an epc moment that Jordan Marsh will remember forever.
So go ahead and watch the highlight again, Trojan fans. You should love it despite how USC got there, because it was a truly epic moment for the underdog Jordan Marsh.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC basketball guard Jordan Marsh hits triple overtime game winner
