USC Men's Basketball Held On For 78-73 Win Over Cornhuskers

Wednesday, January 22

Lincoln, Neb.

6:00 p.m.

USC

12-7,4-4Big Ten

Nebraska

12-7,2-6Big Ten

Southern California

Nebraska

USC Men's Basketball Held On For 78-73 Win Over Cornhuskers

January 22, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Post-Game Press Conference

The Trojans are now 12-0 when they score more than 75 points and 3-1 on the road this season.

LINCOLN, Neb. – The USC Men's Basketball team (12-7, 4-4 Big Ten) took a break from the Galen Center to head to the Midwest as they took on the University of Nebraska. The Trojans kept their status as road warriors as they hung tight with the Cornhuskers, leaving Pinnacle Bank Arena with a 78-73 win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
USC scored one of their fastest baskets of the season as Wesley Yates III grabbed a layup in the first 10 seconds. USC kept pushing forward from there as a dunk from Yates prompted USC to go on a 6-0 run. This was when the Cornhuskers started picking up the pace. They made six straight baskets to take the lead over the Trojans. Desmond Claude broke the scoring drought for the Trojans with back-to-back baskets to stop the damage done by the Cornhuskers. With the help from Yates, it was a new game at the six-minute mark as USC tied up the game with Nebraska. This chippy battle continued with these two teams exchanging the lead five times in three minutes. By the time the first half was over, USC was down by two as the score sat at 33-31 in favor of the home team.

A three-pointer from Rashaun Agee kicked off the scoring for the Trojans in the second half as they looked to take over the lead from Nebraska. Claude's layup did just that as USC took control of this game. From there, USC kept the pressure on Nebraska's offense to prevent them from scoring for over two minutes, which gave the Trojans a chance to grow the lead to four. With 12 minutes left in the game, the score was tied yet again. USC's defense kept the Cornhuskers from scoring a field goal for over four minutes while the Trojans made three straight baskets. But once USC pulled ahead by five, Nebraska closed the gap and got within one, which caused the score to be tied yet again with less than seven minutes to go in this game. This exchange carried all the way into the final minute as USC looked for a way to grab the lead. With a three-pointer from Claude and some made free throws, the Trojans finished on top, leaving Lincoln with the 78-73 win.

NOTABLES

Wesley Yates III turned in a massive first half for the Trojans, putting up nine points and three steals. Yates threw down a dunk early in the first half on a fast break off a Nebraska turnover.
Yates led USC with a season-high four steals against the Cornhuskers. He has now tallied 25 total this season, the most of any Trojan.
Yates, a redshirt freshman, eclipsed 200 career points this evening. With 17 against Nebraska, he now sits at 209 career points.
Josh Cohen's 18 minutes played tonight were his most since USC faced No. 4 Michigan on Jan. 4 (20:46 minutes). Cohen had six points, three rebounds and two assists.
Rashaun Agee made USC's first basket from beyond the arc during the second half. He followed it up with three more, going 4-for-6 from the three.
Agee continued his hot streak as he tallied 14 points, eight rebounds and one steal.
Four Trojans turned in double-digit performances against the Cornhuskers - Desmond Claude (21), Wesley Yates III (17), Rashaun Agee (14) and Saint Thomas (11).
Saint Thomas, playing in front of his hometown crowd, turned in his third straight game where he finished in the double-digits as he posted 11 points. Thomas also tallied five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
Desmond Claude turned in his 14th double-digit game this season, scoring 21 points against Nebraska to lead USC in scoring for the eighth time this season. He also had the most assists on the team with six.
Clark Slajchert posted a season-best seven points against Nebraska. With his performance, the Trojan officially surpassed 1,050 career points (1,052 total).
Chibuzo Agbo led USC in rebounding for the second consecutive game, grabbing nine boards against Nebraska.
With 12 offensive rebounds against the Cornhuskers, USC tied their season-best (also had 12 offensive rebounds against Michigan, Montana State and Oregon).
USC is now 3-1 on the road this season, all of which came during Big Ten play as the Trojans defeated Washington, No. 13 Illinois and now Nebraska on their home courts. Entering tonight's contest, Nebraska was 26-2 at home over the last two seasons.
The Trojans are 12-0 when scoring 75 or more points this season.

QUOTABLES
Coach Eric Musselman on how the team responded to the environment…
"Since I got this job, I tried to ask where it is hardest to play on the road, and this is a program that always came up. I felt like we couldn't turn the ball over and we couldn't give up threes. And, obviously, this ball club isn't the biggest team, but I thought we did a really good job on the boards. It's one of our highest games all season with offensive rebounds and scrapping for loose balls."

Coach Eric Musselman on Saint Thomas during his homecoming…
"I thought he played really well tonight. He is the ultimate glue guy because he's a great passer and he's super unselfish. He's got a high basketball IQ and is one of our most focused players."

Coach Eric Musselman on Desmond Claude…
"Desmond was awesome. I think the biggest thing with Desmond is that he had zero assists going into halftime, and it was super important for him to understand that the defense was loading up on him and he was going to have to really trust his teammates, and he did that. He ended up getting six assists in the second half. I thought he was incredible."

UP NEXT
The Trojans will return to Galen Center on Monday, Jan. 27, for the Crosstown Showdown against the Bruins of UCLA. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. PT. Those who can't make it to Los Angeles can watch the action on FS1 or follow along with the radio broadcast through ESPN LA 710.