Saint Thomas wiped his palms, tossing away the towel as he stepped to the free-throw line. Ninety-six seconds remained within the newest assembly of the crosstown showdown — a recreation that, in latest reminiscence, had lent itself to late-game heroics on this very hardwood. USC had received 5 of six right here over UCLA, and so the entire of Galen Middle now teemed with anxious delirium, anticipating extra rivalry magic.
Thomas had simply pulled down a pivotal rebound in site visitors on the opposite finish, drawing a foul that would lastly put USC in entrance of UCLA after a complete night time spent clawing towards that finish. Within the second, the senior ahead roared to the world’s rafters, each of his palms clenched in fists. However now Thomas stood together with his proper toe on the stripe, steeling himself for 2 of the most important free throws of USC’s season up to now. He took a deep breath.
His first free throw went lengthy, clanking off the again iron. Thomas took one other deep breath. Then, the second rattled out.
Lower than 30 seconds later, UCLA’s Sebastian Mack let a dagger fly from distance, and the Trojans, within the wake of an 82-76 loss to the rival Bruins, had been left to marvel the place they is perhaps with only a few extra profitable free throws.
After a second straight recreation marred by poor capturing from the road, USC coach Eric Musselman didn’t mince phrases. He referred to as it “a huge problem”.
“We had two home games where we just haven’t converted at a good enough rate. I don’t know what else to do,” Musselman mentioned. “I’m not gonna wave a magic wand and change that.”
After capturing simply 11 of 17 from the road in its final dwelling loss to Wisconsin, USC was 11 of 19 on Monday. The Trojans missed seven free throws within the second half in opposition to UCLA, together with 5 within the ultimate five-plus minutes. And whereas Thomas’ pair of misses got here on the most consequential second, a trio of different Trojans had their possibilities within the moments earlier than. Rashaun Agee missed a vital and-one with 5:13 remaining. Then, Desmond Claude missed the again finish of a pair on the 3:31 mark.
Freshman guard Wesley Yates would have a shot to tie the sport, too, only one possession earlier than Thomas. However his first free throw was quick, a miss that lingered with him after the sport.
“I work on free throws every single day, so it’s pretty frustrating for me,” Yates mentioned. “I try to get at least 100 makes in a day. Ten free throws in a row, 10 times. I’ve just got to be more focused, gotta step up, gotta be mature enough to do it every game.”
A part of the issue, in Musselman’s estimation, is USC merely isn’t drawing the variety of fouls that the coach is used to. In 5 of his final six seasons as a coach, Musselman’s groups have ranked among the many prime 31 in faculty basketball in free-throw fee.
These calls, as USC’s coach sees it, haven’t been coming as ceaselessly within the Large Ten.
“Our team — not now, not this year, but for like the last 11 years — we put pressure on the rim, and we’re one of the highest free-throw-attempt teams in the country,” Musselman mentioned. “So you come into the game, and say, ‘Drive the basketball, they’re a high-foul team, a really physical team.’ All these questions and stuff, and one of the most baffling is how do we only take 19 foul shots?”
With out the whistles they had been hoping for, the Trojans turned to the three-point line early. That strategy labored fairly effectively for some time, as USC saved itself afloat with seven first-half threes. The Trojans made 31 three-point makes an attempt in whole, their many of the season. However USC hit only one shot from lengthy vary over the sport’s ultimate 10 minutes.
The Trojans would as a substitute depend on undersized massive man Agee to hold them to the end line. Agee scored 11 factors within the ultimate 13 minutes on his method to a career-high 21.
However his effort wasn’t fairly sufficient, not as USC left 5 free factors on the desk within the ultimate minutes.
“You can’t get every shot,” Agee mentioned. “But what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna get in the gym tomorrow, and we’re gonna do exactly what we always do. We’re gonna work on our game, we’re gonna build confidence, and next game we’re going to make them.”
