USC Men's Basketball Drops Big Ten Opener To No. 12 Ducks

Wednesday, December 4

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:30 p.m.

USC

5-4,0-1Big Ten

Oregon

9-0,1-0Big Ten

Oregon

Southern California

USC Men's Basketball Drops Big Ten Opener To No. 12 Ducks

December 05, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Desmond Claude and Chibuzo Agbo led the Trojans in scoring against the University of Oregon.

LOS ANGELES – USC Men's Basketball (5-3) played their first Big Ten Conference game as they took on the No. 12 University of Oregon Ducks. The Trojans maintained the lead through most of the game, but in the last five minutes, the Ducks stole the lead as USC lost their first Big Ten game with a score of 68-60.

It took over three minutes for a team to score a basket, and unfortunately for the Trojans, Oregon sank the first one. This didn't set the tone. With a five-point run from USC, the Trojans grabbed the lead and ran with it. Between Chibuzo Agbo's 14 points and Desmond Claude's 12, USC kept pushing forward, not giving the Ducks much room to work with on offense. By the time the first half was over, USC kept their lead to seven as they went into the locker room with a score of 30-23.

The Trojans continued to build on their first-half successes as they maintained a steady 10-point lead thanks to Terrance Williams II, who scored seven of his nine points in the second half alone. However, the Ducks started closing in on the Trojans as Oregon's defense did not allow USC to score for more than four minutes until Desmond Claude drove through the paint to break the trend. Oregon picked up the pace yet again, as they kept the Trojans from scoring for over four minutes. While the Trojans got stuck in a dry spell, the Ducks closed the scoring gap, ultimately tying the game with less than five minutes to go. This is when Oregon made its final move. They went on an eight-point run that ultimately led to USC's demise as the Trojans fell in their conference opener 68-60.

NOTABLES

USC started the same five players in back-to-back games for the second time this season with Desmond Claude, Saint Thomas, Terrance Williams II, Josh Cohen and Chibuzo Agbo.
Neither team scored on their opening possession. The game's first basket came at 17:38.
This is the fifth time this season that an opponent scored before the Trojans. USC is now 2-3 when opponents score first this season.
Oregon's 23 first-half points are the second-fewest scored by an opponent this season. Oregon's starting players were held to just eight first-half points. This was also the third game in a row that the Trojans have held their opponent to under 35 points in the first half.
Chibuzo Agbo recorded a season-high 14 first-half points. He finished out the game with 18 total points, making all 10 of his free throws.
Desmond Claude recorded his 200th career assist tonight, now sitting at a total of 203 assists. Claude was also the team's leading scorer as he finished the night with 22 points.
USC carried a 30-23 lead heading into the break, marking the sixth time this season USC led at the half. The Trojans are 4-2 when leading at the half.
Despite leading at the halftime break, only four Trojans scored points in the first half: Chibuzo Agbo (14), Desmond Claude (12), Terrance Williams II (2) and Kevin Patton Jr. (2).
Tonight marked Musselman's first game coaching against the Oregon Ducks.
Kevin Patton Jr. and Terrance Williams II both recorded dunks in this game.
The Trojans shot 34.5 percent from the field - the second-lowest mark in a game for the Trojans this season.
After scoring the game's opening basket, the Ducks did not reclaim the lead until 4:08 remaining in the second half.
Three players fouled out during today's contest - USC's Chibuzo Agbo and Oregon's Nate Bittle and Jadrian Tracey.
The Trojans move to 5-4 on the season and 0-1 in Big Ten conference games.

QUOTABLES
From Head Coach Eric Musselman…
On maintaining physicality throughout the game:
"I am super happy with our physicality today. I thought our pick-and-roll defense tonight was really, really good. I thought we got our scrap back. We rebounded better tonight than we had in the past."

On winning in the Big Ten Conference:
"In order to win a Big Ten game, we are going to have to play hard like tonight and we are going to have to make some shots. We led for 30-plus minutes against a team that's ranked 12th in the country and against an undefeated team. I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win the game."

On Kevin Patton Jr's development:
"We came into this game thinking that a young player like him was going to have a chance to play in a big moment in the Big Ten. Hopefully, he learns a little bit from it."

From Desmond Claude…
On leadership role in tonight's game:
"Just before the game and at practice, the coaches said, 'we need more from you.' Even then, I have to do a better job of taking care of the ball, especially as a point guard. They told me I needed to step up and it wasn't just the scoring part, it was rebounding and defensive effort. I have to give more effort on defense. I was really just trying to focus on that and let the game come to me."

On Big Ten Conference expectations:
"It's a long season. Everybody's new, we're still figuring it out, but as a team, we're going to go and do some damage. We just have to stay locked in on defense and just stay confident, it's a long season. We don't know where we're going to be in February, March and April. We just have to take it game by game. The Big Ten is a very good conference and every game is going to be a fight. Every team is pretty good, so every game is going to be a fight. We just have to keep playing hard and keep taking a step forward to progress into what we can really be."

On helping teammates on the floor:
"Giving them confidence and talking to them. Just having them play the game. Everybody's time is going to come and we don't know who is going to have a night with our team. So, we just have to keep playing together, be with one another, and stay connected."

From Chibuzo Agbo…
On Big Ten Conference expectations:
"I think this team is for sure going to win some Big Ten games. We may have dropped this one, but we have Washington on the road. We're going to dial it back in and get back to work. That's all it is."

On Kevin Patton Jr's performance:
"He gave us really good minutes and played really hard. He really helped us in transition. He runs well and just reacts to the ball well. He was a young guy that gave us really good minutes tonight and I think you'll continue to see that. You'll maybe even see some other young guys get out there and give us some good minutes too."

UP NEXT
The Trojans will go on their first Big Ten road trip as they face a former Pac-12 opponent in the University of Washington. Tipoff will be at 3 p.m. inside the Alaska Airlines Arena. Fans who can't make it to Seattle can watch the action on the Big Ten Network.