USC men's basketball shows grit, but free throw woes appear at the worst time

The Trojans came close to pulling off an upset against No. 5 Purdue at the Galen Center, falling 69-64. They outscored the Boilermakers in the second half, but couldn’t overcome a six-point halftime deficit. With the loss, the Trojans drop to 14-4 on the season and 3-4 in Big Ten play.

USC did a great job pressuring the No. 5 ranked Boilermakers all night with long scoring runs and tough defense that held Purdue to just 41% shooting. But the Trojans, desperately trying to rack up statement wins for a postseason NCAA Tournament spot, only hit 35% of their free throws representing a weakness that could come back to bite them later in the season.

USC hit just 15% of their three-point shots, and it was a game where the Trojans weren’t at their best yet pushed a perennial national title contender right to the final whistle.

USC’s top scorers were familiar faces, with Chad Baker-Mazara putting up 15 points, Jacob Cofie adding 13, and Ezra Ausar contributing 11. The standout stat of the night was USC’s dominance in the paint, holding a 40-28 edge, along with winning the rebounding battle by a 40-32 margin. Head coach Eric Musselman stated those stats highlighted USC's ability to battle and keep up with one of the best teams in the country.

What sealed the loss for the Trojans was a 12-4 Purdue run in the final three minutes. Purdue hit their free throws, while USC couldn’t, and that ended up being the key difference in the game’s outcome.

"We've got to make foul shots," Musselman said. "We're 5-of-14 from the foul line playing the No. 5 team in the country. We out-rebound them; we couldn't have a better defensive scheme. We held them to 41% from the field. That's one of the efficient offensive teams in the league."

USC returns to the court at the Galen Center to face Northwestern on Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. PT (11 p.m. ET), with the game airing on the Big Ten Network.