At the Buzzer: USC 81, Indiana 75

Lamar Wilkerson attempts a shot at USC.

Quick thoughts on an 81-75 loss at USC:

How it happened

USC was red hot to start on Tuesday night at the Galen Center. The Trojans made their first seven shots and opened an early six-point lead at 16-10 by the 14:54 mark of the first half. But the Hoosiers settled in after that and took the lead at 17-16 on a Jasai Miles jump shot at the 10:38 mark. The Hoosiers and Trojans traded the lead for a good part of the remainder of the half before USC opened a five-point lead at the break at 35-30. Indiana’s poor close had much to do with that, as the Hoosiers didn’t have a field goal over the final 5:14 and shot 1-for-8 from the field to finish the opening 20 minutes. IU was outscored by six from the line in the first half and five different Hoosiers had two fouls. Lamar Wilkerson led all scorers at the break with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

Early in the second half, USC lost guard Chad Baker-Mazara with what appeared to be a lower leg or ankle injury. But the Trojans, despite the absence of their leading scorer, extended the lead to six at 43-37 by the under-16 media timeout. After a Kam Woods 3-pointer at the 13:55 mark gave the Trojans their first double-figure lead at 49-39, Darian DeVries took a timeout. Another Woods 3-pointer at the 11:42 mark pushed the USC lead to 55-41 with 11:42 left, prompting another timeout from DeVries. Out of the timeout, Wilkerson knocked down a pair of free throws after USC’s Jacob Cofie was whistled for a technical foul and the Hoosiers cut the lead down to eight at 59-51 by the under-eight media timeout. After IU cut it to four on a Wilkerson layup with 7:09 left, Alijah Arenas hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the USC lead back to 10 with 5:35 left.

USC led 70-59 on an Ezra Ausar 3-point play with 3:46 left, but the Hoosiers scored the next six points to make it 70-65 with 1:55 left. After a USC timeout, an Arenas bucket gave the Trojans a 72-65 lead and Nick Dorn missed a 3-pointer on IU’s next possession. A pair of free throws from Woods gave USC a 74-65 lead. Indiana, however, didn’t go away quietly. The Hoosiers trimmed the lead to four at 75-71 on two free throws from Tucker DeVries with 47 seconds left. DeVries stole the inbounds pass on the next play and Tayton Conerway scored a layup and got fouled to make it 75-73. Conerway, however, missed the free throw and IU fouled Jordan Marsh, who made both free throws to make it 77-73 with 24.2 seconds left. Ryan Cornish then blocked Conerway on IU’s next possession, which sealed the win for the Trojans.

Standout performers

Wilkerson was the only Hoosier in double figures, finishing with 33 points on 11-for-20 shooting from the field. He was 5-for-12 on 3-pointers and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in 32 minutes.

Statistics that stand out

• The Hoosiers struggled from the perimeter, finishing 10-for-35 on 3-pointers (28.6 percent).
• The Trojans had 11 offensive rebounds and won the second-chance points battle 15-6.
• USC outscored IU by 12 points from the free throw line.
• Arenas, who recently made his season debut and scored a total of 30 points through his first four games, had 29 points to lead USC in the win.