USC loses to Northwestern on tiebreaking basket with 2.4 seconds left

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For a while Tuesday night, it looked as though USC men’s basketball was going to suffer an ugly loss at Northwestern in a game the Trojans were supposed to—and really needed to—win. With seven minutes remaining in the game, USC trailed 64-52. Even after they cut the deficit in half, the Trojans were still down by six with under 45 seconds to play. However, thanks to some timely 3-point shooting, USC somehow found a way to tie the game. First, Chibuzo Agbo hit a three to cut the deficit to one score. After Northwestern’s Matthew Nicholson hit a free throw, the Trojans’ Clark Slajchert—who had a career game with 24 points—executed an incredible four-point play to tie the score at 75.

However, it was all for naught. USC’s defense allowed NU’s Nick Martinelli to hit a go-ahead jumper with 2.4 seconds remaining. The Trojans subsequently turned the ball over on their final offensive possession, thus ending the game and handing them a 77-75 loss.

Clark Slajchert had scored just 27 total points for the entire season entering Tuesday’s game. He nearly matched that season-long total in one game. Slajchert helped USC compensate for the absence of Desmond Claude, who was a late scratch with an injury suffered against Michigan State. Unfortunately, USC really did need Claude on the court in this game. Not having him is a brutal twist of bad luck for a team trying to make its way into the postseason.

For USC, it was a frustrating setback after Saturday’s massive upset of No. 7 Michigan State, which saw the Trojans enter the NCAA Tournament bubble watch. While not a death blow to the team’s March Madness hopes, Tuesday’s loss was certainly a major setback.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC loses to Northwestern despite Clark Slajchert’s 24 points

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usc-loses-northwestern-tiebreaking-basket-150431451.html

Author : Trojans Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-05 15:04:00

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