USC Basketball Team Faces Disappointment After Season-End Loss

CHICAGO — The atmosphere in the locker room was heavy. Some players had their heads down, while others appeared lost in thought.

It was yet another letdown for the University of Southern California basketball team, marking eight consecutive losses.

“It’s tough,” graduate guard Ryan Cornish shared with the California Post before hanging up his uniform for good. “Ending your season like this, especially as a senior, isn’t what you want at all.”

Coach Eric Musselman confirmed the season was concluded.

With the recent string of poor performances and ongoing injuries, the Trojans won’t be making it to the national invitational tournament.

“I can’t wait to start focusing on next year,” Musselman mentioned. “I’ll begin my preparations this evening after returning to the hotel.”

USC’s 83-79 overtime defeat to Washington in the Big Ten Tournament opener was all too reminiscent of their recent struggles, so looking back felt pointless.

Initially, the Trojans looked strong. They led the game but stumbled dramatically in the second half.

A once-comfortable 13-point lead vanished in moments. As the clock wound down in regulation, their chance to move forward slipped away, compounded by another player’s tardiness for overtime.

“That’s been our story for the last eight games,” said Musselman, who was witnessing the team’s longest losing streak since the 2014-15 season. “We’ve even led at halftime in four of those games. But we haven’t managed to maintain that momentum in the final 20 minutes to close out games. The last stretch of the season has been really disappointing.”

The Trojans (18-14) were positioned well for the NCAA Tournament in early February, but they’ve fallen off those projections lately.

In an effort to reinvigorate a fading season, Musselman made changes to his starting lineup on Wednesday, putting Cornish back on the court for the first time since February 8.

That day marked their last road victory against Penn State.

Initially, Cornish’s return seemed promising. The 6-foot-5 guard scored two three-pointers, assisted a layup for Cam Woods, and drew two charges early in the game.

After leading by seven points at halftime, it appeared that the Trojans might overcome their second-half woes. However, Woods’ free throw extended their lead to just 57-44, only for the game to be tied a mere two and a half minutes later.

What went wrong?

“I think we could have made more defensive stops to keep our lead,” Woods reflected.

“It was probably a mix of things. We could have followed the game plan better,” added forward Jacob Coffey.

Musselman described this season as the toughest in his career.

“Losing four in a row can happen in the NBA,” he said, noting his 35-32 record over two years at USC. “We usually pick up steam this time of year; I’ve never experienced this kind of situation before, but clearly, we need improvement.”

His determination to halt losses was clear: “We’ve always emphasized never losing two games in a row. Stopping the bleeding has been our goal. For some reason, we just couldn’t do it this year.”

In the end, the quiet locker room offered no solutions, with only the soft murmur of players responding to reporters punctuating the silence.

“Losing is the worst,” senior forward Ezra Ausah said following his last college game. “As a team, we really missed the game.”

How deep does this sting?

“Words can’t really express it,” Ausah replied, his voice barely above a whisper.