Thoughts on an 81-75 loss to the Trojans:
After an emotional, double-overtime game against the Bruins on Saturday, it was fair to wonder if the Hoosiers might have some dead legs against USC tonight.
While they didn’t exactly look flat, the Hoosiers simply didn’t do enough in this one to go 2-0 on their Los Angeles trip.
Let’s start with the offense. Nick Dorn made his first 3-point attempt of the game, but finished just 2-of-12 from deep, scoring six points for the contest. After four straight games of double-figure scoring (average of 20.3 points), the Elon transfer followed it all up with an off-night at the Galen Center.
Tucker DeVries also didn’t add much offensively against the Trojans tonight. DeVries was similarly cold from deep (1-of-8) and scored just five points. Particularly in the first half, Reed Bailey struggled to score down low and was affected by the length and athleticism of USC’s frontline. He went 2-of-6 from the floor for the contest, but did find his way to the line some (4-of-5) to finish with eight points.
So as we’ve seen at times this season — especially in losses — it was one of those games where Lamar Wilkerson had to shoulder a large offensive role. He was the only Hoosier in double figures tonight (33 points). Wilkerson hit 6-of-6 from the line, 5-of-12 from deep and 11-of-20 overall. Just as he did against UCLA, the Sam Houston State transfer was able to vary his scoring diet by getting several baskets at the rim as well.
Indiana shot only 28.6 percent (10-of-35) from 3-point range in this one.
It wasn’t like the Trojans necessarily outplayed the Hoosiers by much, either. They scored 1.11 points per possession to Indiana’s 1.03 and had a similar effective field goal percentage (52) to IU’s (49). But USC got it done on the offensive boards, rebounding 39 percent of its misses, which led to 15 second-chance points. The Trojans, a team strong at getting to the line, also had a free-throw rate of 47 percent, making 19-of-25 (76 percent) from the charity stripe.
And when Chad Baker-Mazara went out for the game for good with an ankle injury early in the second half, Alijah Arenas stepped up for the Trojans. He scored 19 points in the second half, hitting some key 3-pointers and a late bucket at the rim to help seal the deal. It wasn’t the most efficient night for the highly-touted freshman (9-of-23, 29 points), but he had a big impact on the game. Kam Woods also knocked down 2-of-3 from deep and scored 11 points in the second half to aid in USC’s win.
Despite getting down by as much as 14 in the second half, Indiana battled back, UCLA-style, late to make a game of it. A Tayton Conerway bucket got it as close as two with 31 seconds to play. But USC made all six of its free throws after that to close out the game.
A split of its games in Los Angeles was a good enough outcome for the Hoosiers. Still, you wonder with a little better shooting tonight, if Indiana could have left Southern California with two wins.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
See More: The Minute After, USC Trojans