USC Basketball falls to Gaels, will face New Mexico in consolation game

On By Littum

PALM DESERT, California – USC Men’s Basketball (5-2) kicked off the Acrisure Classic in Palm Desert when they took on the Saint Mary’s College Gaels. Despite the Trojans’ strong start, they couldn’t regroup in the second half as they fell 71-36 to the Gaels.

“We have a lot of work to do,” the head coach said Eric Musselman. “I’m extremely disappointed in so many different areas. Hopefully we’ll come out and play a lot better basketball tomorrow. We really struggled offensively and defensively. Other than limiting ourselves to just 10 turnovers, there weren’t many positives to take away either. side of the ball.”

Saint Mary’s came out quickly, scoring on their first three baskets. The Trojans answered with four field goals of their own, allowing the Gaels to pull ahead by just one. This first half continued to be a tough battle between these two teams. When the Trojans would make a basket, the Gaels would answer. And the same would go in the other direction. The lead changed 10 times in this half alone before anyone could pull ahead. Unfortunately for the Trojans, it was the Gaels who got hot. Saint Mary’s went on a 14-2 run that resulted in USC going to the locker room down 11 as the score sat at 32-21 in favor of the Gaels.

Saint Mary’s picked up where they left off as the Trojans couldn’t get into a rhythm on offense. No matter what Southern California did, they couldn’t drain a shot for seven minutes as Saint Mary’s continued to add points to the scoreboard. By the time USC could execute on offense, the Gaels’ lead was too great to close as USC lost to Saint Mary’s 71-36.

NOTABLE

  • This is the seventh straight game in which USC has changed the starting lineup. Start five tonight included (F) Josh Cohen(F) Terrance Williams II(F) Matt Knowling(F) Saint Thomasand (G) Desmond Claude.

  • (G) Chibuzo Agbo surpassed 1,000 career points Thursday night. Agbo finished the game with eight points and now sits at 1,001 total career points. Along with that, Agbo led the Trojans in rebounding with five boards.

  • Josh Cohen has been the first Trojan to hit double figures in four games this season (UT Arlington, Idaho State, Grambling and now Saint Mary’s).

  • With 12 points tonight, Josh Cohen officially surpassed 1,700 career points (1,710 total).

  • Kevin Patton Jr. recorded his third dunk of the season Thursday night, throwing one down within two minutes of coming off the bench.

  • The Trojans shot just 26 percent from the field against Saint Mary’s and went 13-50.

  • USC didn’t make a shot from beyond the arc on Thursday, going 0-12 against the Gaels.

  • USC is now 0-1 in countable games at Acrisure Arena. The Trojans beat Gonzaga in a preseason exhibition game 96-93 on October 26 of this year.

UP NEXT

The Trojans will be back in action tomorrow, November 29th at Acrisure Arena as they play in the consolation game against New Mexico to see who will come away with third place. Fans can watch the action on truTV/MAX at 9 p.m. PT.