Just a week ago, USC men’s basketball reached a low point in its first season under Head Coach Eric Musselman. The Trojans collapsed under pressure against bitter rival UCLA, missing crucial late-game free throws to lose 82-76 at home and fall to 4-5 in Big Ten play.

“I don’t know what else to do,” Musselman said in a postgame press conference when asked about his team’s struggles closing out games from the free throw line.

That was Monday. The man who has shepherded four Sweet 16 runs across two different programs looked distraught, unsure of himself and his plan to lead this army of transfers into Big Ten battle. In the same Galen Center press room five days later, Musselman was unrecognizable, rejuvenated by the best three-day stretch of his Trojan tenure.

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On Thursday, five-star guard Alijah Arenas, the No. 7 prospect in the 2025 class according to 247Sports, FaceTimed Musselman to let him know he would be taking his talents to Los Angeles.

Alijah, son of three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, is the third-highest-rated prospect to commit to USC (13-8, 5-5 Big Ten) in the history of the program. His announcement propelled the Trojans’ recruiting class to the seventh-best in the nation and the top group in the Big Ten by a decent margin.

When it came time for Saturday’s showdown with No. 7 Michigan State (18-3, 9-1), the Trojans knew they would have to maintain intensity and focus for all 40 minutes to stand a chance of hanging around with a team that had not lost since Nov. 26. And USC did just that, never trailing in the game and grinding its way to a shocking 70-64 upset win — completing an unbelievable 72-hour stretch for the program.

“[I’m] still lovin’ it,” Musselman said postgame, in reference to a post he made on X celebrating Alijah Arenas’ announcement at fast-food chain McDonald’s on Thursday.

What happened in between the lethargic loss to the Bruins and the triumphant win that followed? Nothing fun for the Trojans.

“Our practice the other day was tough,” Musselman said. “We took off after the UCLA game, and then the next day, when we came back, was — I mean, the guys can tell you.”

When asked about it in their press conference a few minutes later, junior guard Desmond Claude and graduate guard Chibuzo Agbo sighed deeply, making it clear they were not interested in reliving the brutal week of practice they’d experienced ever again.

“We had weights with us the whole time, all practice. I think it was kind of a message, like, ‘If you don’t play to standard, this is what’s going to happen,’” Claude said. “So it definitely encouraged us to come out and play a little bit harder this game, for sure.”

It was Claude who led the offensive attack, as he has all season for Musselman and the Trojans. The transfer from Xavier finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in 34 minutes — essentially only sitting for a five-minute stretch in the first half after appearing to suffer a serious right knee injury at the 9:26 mark.

The arena fell silent as Claude was helped to the locker room, but just as Trojan fans were beginning to fear the worst for USC’s leading scorer, he emerged on the sideline and returned to the game. The 6-foot-6 point guard carried a slight limp for the remainder of the half, seeming to lack a bit of his normal explosivity, but it is impossible to overstate the impact that his gravity on the court has for the Trojan offense.

“I saw [Claude] on the bike, and at that point, I’m like, ‘Let’s go, get in,’” Musselman said. “The team doctor said, ‘Give us another minute,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t have another minute. I don’t have another minute to wait, let’s go.’”

While he appears to be good to go moving forward, the peek into life without Claude running the offense was not pretty. The Trojans, who shot 42.1% from the field, made just three of ten field goal attempts in six minutes without their starting point guard.

Graduate guard Clark Slajchert did an admirable job filling in, but USC’s offense lacked fluidity and cohesion. Playing defense looked easy for the Spartans without the penetration and shot creation Claude supplies.

“We all know the straw that stirs the drink is Claude,” said Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo.

But Claude returned and the Trojan lead remained steady. For the entirety of the second half, USC’s advantage was between three and ten points. Musselman seemed content with his team taking long offensive possessions, draining the life out of the game and relying on creation late in the shot clock to put points on the board.

Simply due to the Spartans’ pedigree, it felt as if the whole stadium was waiting for Michigan State to go on a run and finally grab the lead, but the surge never came. Any time it appeared the momentum was ready to swing, the Trojans pulled down a gut-punching offensive rebound or made a miraculous recovery in transition defense.

“We just couldn’t get over the hump … So give them credit, they played better than us,” Izzo said. “I thought they played tougher than us, and I don’t say that about many teams.”

Alijah Arenas was in attendance for the game, heading over to greet Michigan State alum and NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson in his seat during the first half. The 17-year-old has to be feeling very good about the faith he put in Musselman and his staff. With those inside the basketball world clearly impressed, the next step in the progression of the program is for the fans to show their faith in what the Trojans are doing.

While the student section was full with USC faithful, the remainder of Galen Center was absolutely taken over by Michigan State fans, who created an environment similar to that of a difficult Big Ten away game for the Trojans. Spartan scores were met with deafening roars, and chants of “Go Green! Go White!” were frequent and reverberant.

While the prominence of the traveling fans was truly embarrassing for USC, it was the Trojans who got the last laugh. Up 66-61 with 39 seconds remaining, an inbound touchdown pass launched by senior forward Saint Thomas led to an emphatic dunk for redshirt freshman guard Wesley Yates III and that was that. Michigan State suffered its first Big Ten defeat and USC pulled out its most impressive win of the season.

Thomas walked right over to the visiting fans, repeatedly waving goodbye and mockingly making crying gestures with his hands.

“It’s no secret we play better on the road, so before the game, I heard it get loud, I was like ‘Wow.’ We were just talking about road dawgs again, like, here we go again,” Agbo said. “So, it was fun. Sending them home like that, it was fun.”

The Trojans will get another chance to embrace that road warrior mentality this week when they head for the Midwest. USC will take on Northwestern (12-10, 3-8) in Evanston, Illinois on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and No. 10 Purdue (17-5, 9-2) in West Lafayette, Indiana on Friday at 4 p.m.