Tag: Eric Musselman

Desmond Claude hits 1,000 career points in USC’s victory over Iowa

Desmond Claude is piling up the points for USC. As a result, he notched a college career milestone in the win over Iowa.

Tuesday night’s USC men’s basketball victory over Iowa was notable for several reasons. For one, the Trojans won their second straight game to get back to .500 in Big Ten play. USC’s 99 points were also the most the Trojans scored in a regulation conference game in more than two decades. In addition, with his 25-point outburst Tuesday, USC junior guard Desmond Claude officially hit the 1,000-point mark for his college career.

Claude originally signed with Xavier out of high school. After coming off the bench as a freshman, Claude became a starter last season and quickly became one of the team’s top scorers, averaging 16.6 points per game.

After entering the transfer portal last offseason, Claude elected to come to USC and play for first-year head coach Eric Musselman. The pairing has proved to be successful thus far. Claude has started 16 of the Trojans’ 17 games to date, averaging 16.4 points, 4.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Just 2.5 years into his college career, Claude has already scored 1,000 points. If he keeps playing at his current pace, there is no telling what he and the Trojans might accomplish next.

USC takes down Iowa with historic offensive outburst

USC built on the Illinois win with another impressive performance versus Iowa.

Make it two victories in a row for the USC men’s basketball team. Coming off a huge upset of No. 13 Illinois on Saturday, the Trojans returned to the Galen Center for the program’s first home game since the Southern California wildfires began last week. USC arrived with an offensive onslaught that Iowa was unable to withstand, and the Trojans prevailed by a final score of 99-89.

The 99 points were the most USC scored in a conference game that did not go to overtime since 2004.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of USC’s performance was how the Trojans spread the wealth around. Four Trojans finished the game with at least 18 points: Desmond Claude with 25, Saint Thomas with 24, Wesley Yates III with 21, and Chibuzo Agbo with 18.

With two straight victories, USC now sits at 11-6 overall and 3-3 in Big Ten play. The Trojans will continue a stretch of four out of five games at home when they host Wisconsin on Saturday at noon local time.

USC basketball schedules affected by Los Angeles wildfires

USC women’s basketball will not play Northwestern in the Galen Center on Wednesday.

As Southern California continues to experience historic wildfires, there has been a significant impact on sporting events in the region. Due to the wildfires, several high-profile sporting events in the region have been either moved or postponed. USC basketball is no exception to this. The Northwestern women’s basketball team recently announced that, due to the ongoing wildfires, it will not travel out to Los Angeles this week for its scheduled matchups with USC and UCLA. Hence, the matchup between the Trojans and the Wildcats—which had been scheduled for Wednesday night at Galen Center—will be postponed to a later date.

As of now, Sunday both evening’s women’s basketball game against Penn State and Tuesday night’s men’s game against Iowa are going to go on as scheduled. Obviously, however, that is subject to change at a moment’s notice, as things can change rapidly in the current landscape.

Both the USC men’s and women’s basketball teams are coming off of huge ranked victories on the road. The men stunned No. 13 Illinois 82-72 in Champaign Saturday, while the women held off No. 8 Maryland 79-74 in College Park on Wednesday.

Whenever the Trojans teams do return home to Galen Center, they should both receive a strong reception from the Galen Center crowd.

Eric Musselman, USC earn statement victory in upset of Illinois

This is easily Eric Musselman’s biggest win at USC. Let’s see if the Trojans build on it.

Eric Musselman officially has his first signature victory at USC basketball. On Saturday, Musselman and the Trojans went into Champaign and stunned a top-15 Illinois team, 82-72. It was the first time the Trojans defeated a ranked conference opponent on the road since 2010.

What made the result even more stunning was that Illinois was coming off 30-plus-point wins over very good Oregon and Penn State teams within the past week. USC, on the other hand, entered the contest 1-3 in conference play, with the Trojans’ lone victory coming over a bad Washington team.

Prior to the game, ESPN’s win probability give Illinois a greater than 90 percent chance to win.

Junior Desmond Claude led the way for the Trojans with a 31-point effort. Redshirt freshman Wesley Yates III and redshirt senior Reshaun Agee both also finished in double figures.

USC still has a ways to go if it wants to seriously contend for an NCAA Tournament berth, but the upset dramatically changed the outlook of this season, and gave plenty of reason for optimism about the program moving forward.

The Trojans will look to continue their momentum when they return home to host Iowa on Tuesday.

USC men’s basketball experiences its first Big Ten road atmosphere

USC absorbed a road atmosphere in an unexpected Big Ten location.

On Saturday evening against Michigan, USC men’s basketball experienced a Big Ten road atmosphere for the first time.

The Michigan fans were loud throughout the game. They cheered after their team’s baskets, and made noise when the Trojans were at the free throw line. Chants of “Let’s go Blue!” and “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine!” rang throughout the arena.

There was just one problem: The game was played at Galen Center in Los Angeles, more than 2,000 miles from USC’s campus.

The good news is that the fans came out in full force on Saturday. The announced attendance for USC-Michigan was 7,075, by far the highest for a Trojans home game this season.

The bad news for the Trojans is that at least half—if not more—of those were Michigan fans. In their first Big Ten home game against a non-former Pac-12 opponent, USC fans were outnumbered by the opposition in their own building.

Obviously, there are several things that should be noted. Michigan has a huge alumni network in Los Angeles. The game also took place during the middle of USC’s winter break, meaning that many students were not yet back on campus.

But still, to see the Trojans playing what felt like an away game in their own building was alarming. Hopefully it will serve as a wake up call to USC fans that this isn’t the Pac-12 anymore, and that they need to show out for each and every game.

USC basketball flips four-star commit from Harvard

Eric Musselman is building his 2025 recruiting class and laying a foundation at USC.

Eric Musselman and USC men’s basketball have officially doubled the size of their 2025 recruiting class. On Tuesday, the Trojans flipped the commitment of four-star guard Elzie Harrington. Harrington had previously been committed to Harvard.

Harrington is a Southern California product, playing at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower. 247Sports Composite ranks him as the No. 56 player in the class of 2025.

Harrington becomes the second top-60 commit for Musselman and the Trojans in this cycle. USC also holds a commitment from another four-star guard in No. 35 overall player Jerry Easter.

The Trojans currently sit at 9-4 in Musselman’s first season. USC is back in action at Galen Center on Saturday evening against Michigan. The Trojans are entering their first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Trojans need to pick up big wins in early January if they are to give themselves a real shot at the NCAA Tournament entering February and the stretch run of the season.

Stars show out for USC women’s basketball at first-ever Big Ten home game

USC pulled in over 8,000 fans for its first-ever Big Ten women’s basketball home game against Michigan. There was star power in the Galen Center crowd, too.

On Sunday evening, USC women’s basketball defeated Michigan 78-58. The game was close early, but the Trojans pulled away late thanks to a big second half. It was a historic night for the program, as the Women of Troy played their first ever Big Ten home game. Fittingly, numerous stars showed out at Galen Center for the occasion.

USC legend Cheryl Miller has become a regular at Trojans’ home games during the Gottlieb era. Of course, she was on hand for the program’s Big Ten premiere.

Miller was not the only former USC athlete on hand, though. Legendary USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who led the football team to two national championships and won the 2004 Heisman Tropny, was also in the house.

On the coaching side, current USC men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman made the familiar trip to Galen Center. Musselman’s Trojans are currently 9-4 on the season, and will continue Big Ten play with their own matchup against the Wolverines on Saturday evening.

It was not just sports figures who showed up, however. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea was also in the house.

Between the crowd and the victory, it was a great night for the Women of Troy. USC will be back in action on New Year’s Day when they host Nebraska.

Eric Musselman offers blunt assessment of USC’s season outlook

Eric Musselman knows he does not have a full plate of options at USC in his first season. The Trojans are fighting an uphill battle all the way.

It has not been the best start to the season for Eric Musselman and the USC men’s basketball team.

On Wednesday night, the Trojans fell 68-60 at home to Oregon in the first Big Ten game for both programs. With the loss, USC fell to 5-4 on the season. With only three more nonconference buy games left before conference play gets into full swing, things are not looking great for the Trojans in Year 1 under Musselman.

Following the loss, Musselman was asked by Luca Evans of the Orange County Register about his outlook for this year’s team, and he gave an extremely honest assessment.

“I don’t know how many Big Ten games we’re gonna win,” Musselman said. “What I do know is, if you put forth that effort—from a culture standpoint, you know—I don’t think any, you walk out of the building, you think the team played hard, you think the team played hard, you think the team gave great effort, and you think the team didn’t close the game. Which we didn’t.

“We were right there. And like I said, if you lead for 30 minutes, it’s the last 10 minutes of play that we’re not used to winning as a unit.

“There’s probably going to be other nights that we play really well, and whether we can walk away with the win or not, I don’t know in year one. But the effort was there, other than defensively, down the stretch.”

Given Musselman’s prior success at Arkansas and Nevada, the Trojans’ program should be in good hands long term. But if early results are any indication, USC fans might need to wait a year or two before the victories start to come in.

USC men’s basketball runs into harsh reality in the California desert

Eric Musselman and USC know that this roster is a long-term project and not a quick fix. That was made clear by two losses in Palm Desert, California.

The reality surrounding USC men’s basketball is not a pleasant one, but it’s also not something to panic about in a long-term context. Eric Musselman is going through his own growing pains at USC, but what is happening this year might have little bearing on what happens in future seasons in Los Angeles. For the moment, though, life isn’t fun for the Men of Troy. They lost a second game in Palm Desert, California, falling 83-73 to New Mexico on Friday night.

The Trojans could not score on Thursday in their loss to Saint Mary’s, posting just 36 points. Friday, they couldn’t defend, allowing 83 to New Mexico. It’s always something, and it’s not just one thing, for the Trojans. That is the biggest concern. If the team had one flaw, Musselman could address it and the collective would have a chance to be really good. However, this team doesn’t have one flaw. It has many. Opponents are able to expose them, and the fact of the matter is that USC is just not ready to win big right now. The NCAA Tournament is an unrealistic goal at this point. USC has to simply improve before it can entertain bigger goals.

New Mexico unleashed a 14-0 run to break this game open in the second half after USC — down 13 — had cut UNM’s lead to just four, at 47-43. USC goes through scoring droughts, and it also goes through five-minute segments in which other teams pile up the points. At both ends of the floor, USC doesn’t have the physical heft to overpower comparably skilled opponents. Even against smaller teams — as we saw the past few weeks against Idaho State, UT Arlington, and Grambling — the Trojans couldn’t really separate from the opposition. A roster comprised of transfers was always going to need a developmental process, but the bigger point is that the transfers haven’t fit very well together.

Eric Musselman should recruit well. He will need to. In Year 1, however, he had to piece together a roster on the fly. This season will not look like future seasons. Right now, however, USC is taking its lumps, and there will probably be more lumps in the coming weeks.

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Four-star guard commits to USC men’s basketball

Bringing in a quality recruit during the same week in which it endured a blowout loss magnifies the importance of building the next USC basketball roster.

Earlier this week, USC men’s basketball landed a commitment from four-star guard Jerry Easter. This commitment takes on added meaning and significance in light of USC’s 35-point loss to Saint Mary’s on Thursday night. Rosters comprised mostly of transfers will lack early-season continuity and cohesion. Eric Musselman knows he has to build a foundation for the program’s future with quality recruiting, and here’s a really good addition for the Muss Bus.

A 6-4 guard, Easter is from Toledo, Ohio, but attends high school at Link Academy in Stamford, Connecticut. On3 Consensus ranks him as the No. 33 overall player in the class of 2025.

Easter is USC’s first commit of the 2025 class, which will mark the first full recruiting cycle for new head coach Eric Musselman. Musselman took over the program in April after spending the previous five seasons as the head coach at Arkansas.

Given the state of the Trojans’ roster the time of his hiring, Musselman’s 2024-2025 team is made up almost entirely of transfers, as we noted above. Musselman’s 2025 recruiting class will be his first real step towards building the program in his image.

USC currently sits at 5-2 on the 2024-2025 season after the Saint Mary’s on Thanksgiving Night.

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