On Tuesday night, the USC men’s basketball team dropped the first Crosstown Showdown of the season, falling 81-62 to rival UCLA in Westwood. With the loss, the Trojans dropped to 18-10 on the season and 7-10 in Big Ten play.
What did we learn from the game? Here are a few key takeaways:
Advertisement
First half: No offense
In the first half, USC’s offense simply went cold. After going up 16-13 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the frame, the Trojans managed to score just 13 points for the rest of the half. The result was a 38-29 deficit going into the break that they were never really able to recover from.
Second half: No defense
In the second half, on the other hand, USC’s offense finally started clicking, only for the defense to fall apart. UCLA scored 43 points in the final 20 minutes, led by Donovan Dent, who dropped 30 on the Trojans.
One-sided rivalry
The unfortunate reality is that the Trojans are now 0-3 against UCLA under head coach Eric Musselman, with two of the three losses coming in blowout fashion. It is not as though the Bruins have been anything special during that stretch, either—UCLA has been an above average Big Ten team at best over the past two seasons, with head coach Mick Cronin’s seat seemingly starting to heat up.
Advertisement
The fact of the matter is, while men’s basketball has not always been the most successful or popular sport at USC, this particular game matters a lot to the fanbase. One of the main reasons that Andy Enfield lasted so long at USC despite never winning a conference title and limited NCAA Tournament success was because he regularly put UCLA in its place. If Musselman wants to win himself over to USC fans, he needs to find a way to beat the school across town.
Baker-Mazara returns
One of the few positives to come from the game for USC was the return of Chad Baker-Mazara. Playing in just his second game in the past three weeks after a knee injury kept him out for most of the month of February, he put up 25 points and eight rebounds in his first taste of the USC-UCLA rivalry. Unfortunately for the Trojans, no other player on the team scored more than ten.
Up next
The road does not get much easier for USC. The Trojans return to Galen Center on Saturday to host a Nebraska team currently ranked No. 12 in the country. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. Pacific time on Big Ten Network.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC men’s basketball falls to rival UCLA 81-62: Key takeaways
