In November, there is no time to worry about style points. This is the month of the college basketball season when teams play smaller conference opponents in an attempt to gain confidence and rhythm. Losing one of these “buy games” can be devastating for a team’s NCAA Tournament chances. The main thing is to win, no matter how ugly or shaky the performance might be. USC basketball and Eric Musselman have managed to stay unbeaten despite two very unsteady performances. Concerns exist, but as long as the wins keep coming, the season is on schedule. USC did stay on schedule with a 98-95 win over UT Arlington on Wednesday night in the Galen Center.
USC had a nine-point halftime lead, 51-42. The Trojans did not play good defense in the first half but still had a working margin because they shot the ball extremely well. They naturally hoped to build their lead in the second half, but UT Arlington was very “Mavericky.” The Mavs kept tossing in 3-pointers to reduce USC’s lead. UT Arlington finished the game 16 of 24 on 3-pointers, giving the Mavericks a plus-30 margin in points scored from 3-pointes. UTA had 48 points on 16 triples, whereas USC had just 18 points on six long balls.
Arlington led 88-86 late in the game. USC was staring down the barrel of a horrible loss. Fortunately, Desmond Claude stepped up for the Trojans. He scored USC’s next eight points to give the Men of Troy a 94-90 lead with 19 seconds left. Claude finished with 26 points on a night when USC hit over 55 percent of its field goal attempts. Josh Cohen scored 19 points. Terrance Williams made his USC debut and added 18 for the victors, who are 3-0 this season and will try to win with a little less drama the next time they take the court.
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.