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Entering Tuesday’s game at Northwestern, most USC basketball fans had probably heard very little of Clark Slajchert. The Penn transfer had yet to play more than 16 minutes in a game, and he had scored just 29 points on the entire season for Eric Musselman. Against the Wildcats, however, that quickly changed. Slajchert had a career night in Evanston, scoring 24 points, by far his best output of the season. Slajchert shot an incredible 81.8% from the field, and was 4-for-4from 3-point range. He got more minutes because Desmond Claude, USC’s best player, was out due to injury.
Slajchert’s best and most important play of the night came in the game’s final minute. Trailing by four, the Trojans got the ball back with 35 seconds remaining. After USC took the ball down the court, Slajchert drilled a 3-pointer while also drawing a foul. He hit his free throw to complete the four-point play, tying the game at 75.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, it was not enough to pull out a comeback victory, as Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli hit the game-winning shot with two seconds remaining to give the Wildcats the win. However, it was still an incredible breakout performance by Slajchert, and one that should give USC fans optimism about what he can do moving forward.
Putting Clark Slajchert on the floor alongside — or in addition to — a healthy version of Desmond Claude would make USC basketball more potent under Eric Musselman for this final month of play before the Big Ten Tournament. Let’s see if USC can get more upside from Slajchert playing more — and better — minutes while Claude and other players get healthy and continue to contribute.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Clark Slajchert and healthy Desmond Claude would boost USC basketball
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Author : Trojans Wire
Publish date : 2025-02-05 17:14:00
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