USC men’s basketball’s most recent game against the University of Washington produced results the Trojans may want to soon forget. Quincy Pondexter, Desmond Crowder and Wesley Yates III returned to Los Angeles as the Trojans beat USC 84-76 at the Galen Center after leading by 18 points in the first half.
Crowder and Yates III combined for 38 points, Hannes Steinbach also scored 24 points, and USC shot 37% from the field and was upset.
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But luckily, the nature of college sports afforded the Trojans two opportunities to quickly forget this loss. For example, the USC women’s basketball team got revenge on the Huskies a day later, defeating the Washington women’s basketball team 59-50.
USC, on the other hand, will get its chance soon against San Diego on Tuesday. The best way to get over a loss is always to get back on the winning column.
How can USC do that against the Matadors? Here are five things to watch as the USC Trojans (8-1) take on the San Diego Bulldogs (3-5) on Tuesday night looking to improve to 2-0 in Big Ten play:
How does USC respond to the loss?
Losing to a rival when leading by 18 points is always tough and could affect the Trojans’ confidence and focus if they’re not careful.
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Now, the game against San Diego isn’t a huge challenge on paper. The Bulldogs are a minor league team with a 3-5 record, which includes losses to other minor league teams such as Idaho State, UC Riverside, California Baptist University, Long Beach State and San Jose State.
But, record aside, we haven’t seen how this Trojan team handles losing. They dealt with a lot of adversity throughout the season, including injuries to key players. But after getting their first taste of defeat, many great teams lost to weaker teams.
Watch the Trojans’ body language, interactions with each other and the energy level at this point, especially if they’re struggling early on.
Number of fans from both teams present
This is a rare opportunity for USC and Trojans fans: a road game in Southern California. It’s always interesting to see how Trojan fans travel, and how San Diego Trojan fans take advantage of the opportunity to watch games locally. This is a great opportunity for Trojan fans to impact the game on the road.
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But, perhaps because the opponent is a rival in Southern California, the Bulldogs are also taking fans attending this game seriously. The university gave away free tickets, free food and free T-shirts to students, which they called “Pack the Pavilion.”
Compared to other games, this game will be one to see the fan attendance/impact on both teams.
How does USC’s rotation shape up without Amarion Dickerson?
Amarion Dickerson will officially miss three to four months with a right hip injury. Prior to his injury, Dickerson was fifth on the Trojans in minutes per game at 21.6.
The guard position will take a lot of time to fill, especially since USC has also been playing without star guard Rodney Rice.
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Jordan Marsh played a big role in the absence of Dickerson and Rice against Washington. Marsh scored 17 points off the bench, second on the Trojans.
Will Marsh continue to be heavily relied upon? How does Ryan Cornish think about it? How will that change when Rodney Rice returns (hopefully soon) and Jerry Easter II returns to the bench?
Now it feels like a puzzle with a lot of moving parts, which makes it worth watching.
A good place to go for Christmas in Easter Issue 2?
One of the biggest storylines in USC’s loss to Washington was Jerry Easter II’s stellar performance for the second straight game.
Easter scored a career-high 13 points in the second quarter and tied a career-high with 4 assists and 2 steals. Just one game after Game 2 on Easter, he tied his previous career high with 11 points against Oregon.
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He also leads the Trojans with 40 minutes played, six more than Chad Baker-Mazara, who is second on the Trojans with 34 minutes played. This shows that while Easter II may not be USC’s leading scorer, coach Eric Musselman believes his game overall is very valuable to the Trojans.
Will he be one of USC’s most valuable players even with Rodney Rice back? We’ll see if his full impact lasts.
Three-Point Shooting: San Diego’s X-Factor
San Diego is a team that likes to try a lot of 3-pointers. They made 210 three-pointers this season. In comparison, the Trojan stole only 196.
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Through their first four games of the season, the Bulldogs have been shooting extremely well from beyond the arc. It’s no coincidence that they’re also 3-1 after those four games. They have lost all of their last four games, shooting less than 29% from three-point range in each game. But they still averaged more than 24 shots per game during that period. They’re going to hit a lot of 3-pointers whether they’re made or not.
The key for USC will be to not let San Diego get into any rhythm from behind the arc. The Trojans held an 18-point lead against Washington in large part because the Huskies shot 1-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half. They ultimately lost to Washington in large part because the Huskies were outscored 5-9 from 3-point range in the second half. USC’s perimeter defense is clearly one to watch.
This article originally appeared on Trojan Network: USC men’s basketball takes on San Diego Toreros at Jenny Craig Center
