USC Trojans Basketball Defeated At Home vs. Michigan Wolverines 85-74

The USC Trojans fell at home to the Michigan Wolverines 85-74 on Saturday night. USC trailed by as many as 15 but stormed all the way back to take the lead in the second half. The Wolverines dominated the final five minutes en route to a road win.

Nov 4, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman cheers after the game against the Chattanooga Mocs at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans saw their four-game win streak come to an end vs. the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday night at the Galen Center. Michigan came out firing from three early, and then controlled the final minutes of the game in the paint to win 85-74.

USC falls to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in Big Ten conference play while Michigan improves to 11-3 overall and 3-0 in Big Ten play.

Dec 18, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard Desmond Claude (1) reacts in the first half against the Cal State Northridge Matadors at Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Second Half

End of Game: Michigan beats USC 85-74. Perfect execution down the stretch from the Wolverines to pull out a road win.

:49: Foul trouble has played a major factor. Desmond Claude has fouled out for USC and the Trojans look lost on the offensive end without him. Michigan looking to ice the game after Goldin and Wolf layups, up 81-71.

3:50: Michigan came out of the break with a 8-0 scoring run. USC then answered with a Kevin Patton Jr. layup and an Agbo catch and shoot 3-pointer on the right wing. USC will come out the timeout with the ball down 73-70.

7:02: Michigan has gone ice cold from three point land while USC is heating up. USC has brought it all the way back to tie it the game at 65-65. Biggest shot of this stretch was a Chibuzo Agbo banked-in three as the shot clock was expiring. Trojans and Wolverines each in the bonus the rest of the way. Vlad Goldin is currently out with his fourth foul.

11:44: Saint Thomas, Desmond Claude, and Wesley Yates are trying to keep the Trojans in it. Michigan lead is now 61-55. Thomas and Yates each hit a big three, and then Claude converted multiple and-ones on the fast-break to give USC some momentum. Michigan has answered with buckets from Roddy Gayle, but USC is showing signs of life.

16:02: USC has to burn another timeout with the Michigan lead up to 55-40. Out of the first timeout, USC immediately turned the ball over and fouled. Wolf and Goldin continue to get easy buckets in the paint. To make matters worse, Desmond Claude picked up his third foul while going for an offensive rebound. "Let's Go Blue" chants are getting louder in the Galen Center as this one is slipping away from the Trojans.

17:36: Eric Musselman calls timeout following a 7-0 Michigan run to give the Wolverines a 49-40 lead. The Michigan bigs are making their presence felt to start the second half. Wolf and Goldin have scored the last seven points.

First Half

End of Half: Trojans go into halftime trailing the Wolverines 42-38. The story of the game has been the 3-point discrepancy. Michigan is shooting 10/16 from deep while USC is just 1/6. Michigan has only made three 2-point field goals. Leading the way for Michigan is Nimari Burnett with 13 points. USC's leading scorer is Wesley Yates with 12 points on a perfect 4/4 from the field.

3:22: Game tied at 34-34. A sloppy 4 minutes of basketball with a handful of cheap fouls from each team. Wolverines are shooting the seams off the ball, and are 8 for 13 from beyond the arc.

7:42: Michigan leading 25-24. Trojans are starting to consistently get the hoop with Saint Thomas and Wesley Yates. Wolf and Donaldson continue to knock down threes for Michigan to keep them ahead.

11:40: Michigan leads USC 17-14 at the under-12 break. Trojans getting a balanced attack on offense, with all five starters already scoring. Michigan shooting lights out from the field, but have turned the ball over four times.

15:22: Going into first media timeout, Michigan leads USC 15-9. Wolverines have opened game up with five 3-pointers. Two from Tre Donaldson, two from Nimari Burnett, and one from Danny Wolf.

Pregame

The USC Trojans will face off against the Michigan Wolverines at the Galen Center on Saturday night. The 9-4 Trojans are riding a four-game winning streak heading into the contest with wins over Washington, Montana State, CSU Northridge, and Southern.

Michigan on the other hand has won their last two games over to improve their record to 10-3 and are undefeated in Big Ten conference play.

Dec 18, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Eric Musselman reacts in the first half against the Cal State Northridge Matadors at Galen Center. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This will be the first matchup between the two programs as members of the Big Ten. It is also a matchup of two first year coaches in Eric Musselman at USC and Dusty May at Michigan.

Before the game, Musselman revealed some of the team's preparation plans since the game comes so close to the holidays.

“I think basically nine of the guys will be out of town in the next three hours and then everybody will be out of town by the morning. They get three days off where they’re completely off and then they’ll report back in the afternoon or late afternoon after the three days on the 26th,” Musselman said. “Leading up to Michigan we’ll spend the first four days on ourselves and we’ll spend after the fourth day, we’ll start diving into Michigan.”

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