This was a game the USC Trojans could not afford to lose. Everyone knew it, everyone said it, everyone was thinking about it heading into Saturday afternoon in Corvallis.
USC badly needed to beat Oregon State to remain on course for the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans could have made their path so much smoother by handling an Oregon State team which entered the day 9-16, 3-11 in the Pac-12.
They couldn’t do it.
This is a game which represents a two-seed line loss, meaning that if USC was a No. 10 seed going in, it is now on the 12 line, which typically means being one of the first four teams out of the field. Being an 11 seed is commensurate with a First Four assignment to Dayton. Some 12 seeds are at-large teams, but other 12s are automatic qualifiers (conference tournament champions).
Expect USC to be one of the first four out on Sunday or Monday morning.
Leverage, gone.
The Trojans lost 61-58 at Oregon State because their main scorers all struggled. Boogie Ellis, Drew Peterson, and Tre White went a combined 8 of 29 from the field, 1 of 9 on 3-pointers. USC finished 32 percent from the field, just 1 of 14 on 3-pointers. The Trojans wasted a great game from their freshman, Vince Iwuchukwu, who scored a game-high 19 points and was terrific.
He didn’t get much help.
USC’s bench was outscored 20-3. None of the reserves who got plenty of playing time on Thursday against the Oregon Ducks were able to translate that playing time into increased effectiveness in Corvallis. The Trojans’ reserves were exposed with Joshua Morgan and Reese Dixon-Waters out of the lineup. People will say USC missed those two players, and that might be true, but against Oregon State, it shouldn’t have mattered.
It did.
Now USC is in trouble. The Trojans can’t afford many more stumbles over the next few weeks if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.
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