USC men’s basketball left to wonder what could have been after humbling loss at UCLA

As his USC team slid further off the NCAA tournament bubble, falling flat against its fiercest rival, frustrated coach Eric Musselman couldn’t help but lament what might have been.

If the Trojans had Rodney Rice, maybe things would have gone differently in his second season.

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“I haven’t really talked about it in a long time,” Musselman said. “But we’ve got three games left, so I’m gonna bring it up now. To run our offense and stuff without a guy like him is problematic for sure.”

Of course, after losing 81-62 to crosstown rival UCLA,, there wasn’t much else for USC to find solace in Tuesday night. Maybe Rice, who has been out since late November, would have elevated the Trojans’ ailing offense. Maybe freshman Alijah Arenas, who didn’t debut until late January, could have found his stride faster with a full offseason.

Read more: USC men’s basketball team fumbles late lead, suffers devastating loss to Oregon

No amount of what-ifs, however, will fix what ails USC during its final three games. The loss to UCLA was its fourth straight. As of Tuesday night, the Trojans were firmly out of the tournament field, a fact that Musselman was well aware of.

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That’s not set in stone yet. But the question now is whether the Trojans even have the capacity to climb back into the March mix.

That path back for USC would certainly be smoother with a more potent offense. Sixth-year senior Chad Baker-Mazara led the team with 25 points against UCLA in spite of playing through a sore knee.

But the rest of the Trojans offense shot under 30% — another issue that Musselman traced back to Rice’s absence.

“The lack of shooting is really hurting us,” Musselman said. “I haven’t really talked about it in a long time. But not having Rodney Rice’s shooting is killing us. It kills our spacing. It kills our help to the ball.”

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The arrival of Arenas, the Trojans highly touted freshman, was supposed to solve that. Instead, 10 games into his…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/usc-mens-basketball-left-wonder-093049511.html

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Publish date : 2026-02-25 09:30:00

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