USC Leaves Its Offense In LA

Filed under: Seton Hall, USC, Big East, Pac-10

An embarrassing loss for USC to Seton Hall, 63-61 (PDF). USC was up by 15 at halftime, but could only score 18 points in the final 20 minutes. USC could not score in the second half, shooting 7-29 and making only 4-10 on free throws.

Seton Hall was not that good, but they were consistent in both halves. Shooting around 40% overall and 50% on free throws. The Pirates did play a strong interior defense in the second half that kept the athletic forwards of USC on the perimeter.

Rather than working it inside, the Trojan forwards settled for jumpshots and had no chance for rebounds. USC struggled throughout with Seton Hall's defense. USC turned the ball over nineteen times with Seton Hall getting 14 steals.

Seton Hall was especially impressive as they only played with seven scholarship players, and only six played in double digit minutes. Center/Forward John Garcia was a force inside with 18 rebounds and 11 points. He and Mike Davis completely neutralized the Trojans inside.

USC's guards had a horrible night on offense. Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis shot a combined 4-20 and turned the ball over seven times. The concerns noted in the preview of USC really came out in this game. With no depth in the backcourt, there was no one else to help when the starting guards were struggling. The defense was decent, but they couldn't score enough points. There was a lot of standing around as the Trojan players clearly were uncomfortable with each other.