Sunday evening saw a patchy USC crowd and a larger-than-you-would-expect group of heavily impassioned Grambling State University fans, complete with their own yellow and black pompoms, sequined jackets and rehearsed chants. The game, ending in the Trojans’ favor with a final score of 80-69, was defined by differences at halftime.  

The Grambling (1-4) fans’ energy seemingly propelled the Tigers to an empowered first half. A usually pin-drop silent Galen Center was alit with cries of “air ball” during Trojan (5-1) free throws, with the Grambling fans’ “Let’s Go, Tigers” chants outshining USC’s defensive support even at home.

This energy appeared to affect the Trojans, too, fielding an offense that looked stuck, for lack of a better word. Ball movement felt stunted and slippery, with passes thrown almost completely from beyond the arc. The team was wrought with miscommunication, and any intrusions into the paint were immediately stifled. 

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“[The Grambling fans] really added a little bit of atmosphere. It’s cool to have some more fans there. Hopefully, we can continue to fill it up. But good on them for having some fans there,” said graduate guard Chibuzo Agbo during the post-game press conference.

In this lackluster first half for the Trojans, there was a silver lining. Graduate forward Josh Cohen, one of many new-adds for this team of transfers, utilized his height well in the paint, with his arching hook shots making up most of USC’s offensive attack early. 

A culminating point for Cohen came in the sixth minute of the game, with the shot clock counting down the final five seconds. After an unsuccessful attempt in the paint and a few bat-arounds from beyond the arc, Cohen recovered the ball and shot a successful triple near the logo.

“[The game] felt great. We got the win … As a team, we’re growing. Tonight, it’s a good win. We just got to move on,” Cohen said in the post-game press conference. 

Unlike the Trojans, Grambling proved offensively effective, with senior guard Kintavious Dozier going 5-5 from the field in the first half. However, after defensive adjustments, the Trojans kept Dozier scoreless from the field in the second half. 

“If Dozier kept going to the paint, we weren’t going to win the game because of his shooting percentage, because of the clean looks, because of the open threes. I thought that helped us defensively, [we needed to] switch some things,” said Head Coach Eric Musselman in a post-game press conference. 

On that note, the second half seemed to be a completely different ball game. Defensively, USC held the Tigers to just 35.5% shooting from the field, an effort helped along by junior guard Desmond Claude’s five rebounds and defensive stops by Agbo and graduate guard Clark Slajchert. 

With quite the second-half entrance, Slajchert looked energetic and attuned for the Trojans. His contributions, winding up to a steal early in the second half, created a turning point in the second-half momentum. 

“[Slajchert] was great, just from an energy standpoint. If you had to pick one play from a momentum standpoint, it was the steal; it got a little bit of the crowd involved,” Musselman said.  “I know our bench had a lot of energy after that steal. He’s an offensive threat out there.” 

In addition to defensive changes, Musselman’s halftime corrections injected a much-needed dose of energy into the Trojan offense. Claude, who didn’t start the game, has become a key player on the other side of the break, closing out games with ability in the paint and leadership from beyond the arc. 

“[Claude] does such a great job of getting to the basket and contorting his body to draw fouls, but also trying to finish plays,” said Musselman. “He’s still a young player developing so much of his game, but certainly, in the second half, we needed him to have the ball in his hands a little bit more, especially when they went man to man.”

Compared to previous games this season, Agbo looked much improved as well. Leading the team in points with 21, Agbo went 6-12 from the field, an increase from his 0-2 performance against UC Berkeley (5-1) last weekend. 

“I don’t really feel like I ever lost it,” Agbo said. “I always knew I was gonna make shots, but I was in a little bit of a slump for sure, so it’s good to get going.” 

The Trojans scored 43 points in the second compared to 37 in the first, but the style of play showed the most improvement. Passes within the paint looked smoother, with fewer movement errors and miscommunication. 

Improvement for the Trojans in non-conference play is especially important before USC makes its basketball Big Ten debut against Oregon on Dec. 4. 

Next, however, USC will travel to Palm Springs to play in the Acrisure Classic, with games on Thanksgiving and the day after. In the desert, the Trojans have a chance to play even more talented offenses in the University of Saint Mary’s (6-0), Arizona State (5-1) and University of New Mexico (5-1). 

“It’s a tough tournament, but that’s what you want,” Musselman said. “You want to challenge your team. It’s time for us to go play these types of games.”