Early in the season it is sometimes just about that you win and less about how you do it.
USC held a lead for a majority of Thursday night’s matchup at Galen Center, but it didn’t always feel like it. The Trojans had a battle on their hands in the second game of the season as Idaho State simply wouldn’t go away no matter what Eric Musselman and his team came up with Thursday.
Eventually, a productive performance from Josh Cohen and enough offensive production from his teammates proved to be enough for USC to move to 2-0 on the year with a 75-69 victory over the Bengals.
Cohen shined for much of the evening en route to a 19-point performance for the UMass transfer big man, who connected on 8 of his 12 shot attempts in the game.
Ultimately, it was newcomer Saint Thomas who sealed the win for the Trojans after hitting a key 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to play. Thomas, who played the point guard role for much of his time on the floor for the shorthanded Trojans, made both of his 3-pointers in the game and finished with 10 points and 9 assists.
Towards the end of the game Thomas played without a protective mask he’s been wearing to help him avoid being hit in the face as he works through a broken nose. The Northern Colorado transfer was uncomfortable wearing the mask, so he opted to go without it down the stretch which proved to be a beneficial move for the Trojans.
“It was just very difficult to see out there, and it’s been bothering me the past couple games,” he said. “I knew I was gonna have to step up big, either hit a big shot or some free throws, so I decided that I just had to take off the mask. Hopefully I wasn’t gonna get hit, but I had to take it off.”
Thomas handled the big shot with his late 3-pointer, but it was his teammates who stepped up at the free-throw line with a few clutch makes late on an otherwise forgettable evening for the Trojans from the line.
USC missed 12 free throws in the game, but 12 of its 22 makes in the game from the line came over the final 12 minutes in the game as the Trojans tried to work out of a scoring drought from the field.
Penn transfer Clark Slajchert played just 12 minutes in Thursday’s win, but all six of his points came from the free-throw line all within the last 5:31 of the contest. His two free throws with three seconds left helped USC push its lead back up to two possessions and put the win on ice.
“We’ve been a really good foul shooting team,” Musselman said. “I think we made 42 in a row the other day. We’ve had another day, on the day of a game, where we made 38. It’s been the best free-throw shooting team that I’ve seen in practice, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna carry over to games. We’re in Game 2.
“That has not been a concern, other than tonight, missing the front end of some free throws.”
While Thursday night’s free-throw shooting woes feel like an anomaly for the Trojans, the in ability to control the glass is a legitimate concern for Musselman. USC came out on the wrong end of a 40-25 rebounding battle in the win, and the Trojans’ head coach ended his night disappointed about the performance from his team in that area.
“Overly concerned about our defensive rebounding for sure,” he said. ” … It’s hard to simulate rebounding. I mean, we got a million rebounding drills but I think sometimes you get minimal out of that. You gotta go do it in games, you gotta box out better, but we have to drill it because that’s unacceptable our defensive rebounding tonight.”
The Trojans finished the game with 16 defensive rebounds to 28 for the Bengals.
One of the late turning points in the game came when Cohen made a layup with 7:55 to play to end what had been a drought from the field that lasted over 7 minutes for the Trojans. The last basket for USC prior to the shot from Cohen came on a 3-pointer from Chibuzo Agbo with 15:18 still on the clock.
In between that time, Idaho State had chipped away and eventually chiseled down what was once a 12-point deficit into a 1-point lead.
Cohen’s bucket gave USC some new life that allowed the Trojans to gain some control back.
On the positive end for the Trojans was their ability to share the ball while also protecting it from the Bengals. USC ended the night with 20 assists to just 6 turnovers while also forcing Idaho State into 17 turnovers resulting in an 18-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
“That’s a lot of assists in a college basketball game, and causing 17 turnovers,” Musselman said. “So, there were some positive things.”
The Trojans had four players finish with at least 2 assists in the game including Cohen, who had 3 to go with his 19 points and 5 rebounds.
In addition to Thomas and Cohen, sophomore Wesley Yates III also scored in double figures as he finished the game with 13 points and 3 steals but did have a team-high 3 turnovers.
Freshman Isaiah Elohim got the start Thursday night and scored 5 points and dished out 3 assists in 15 minutes on the floor.
The Trojans return to the floor Wednesday when they take on UT Arlington in the third of a six-game stretch at home to open the season.
