Cal 74, USC 73

mclaughlin-calJordan McLaughlin drove to the basket but his shot was blocked by Ivan Rabb at the buzzer as the Trojans lost before 5,528 at the Galen Center. I will say this again and again: Did that easy nonconference schedule prepare USC for Pac-12 play?

USC made only 10 of 21 free throws. McLaughlin was 3 for 8. Chimezie Metu and McLaughlin each scored 20 points.

64 thoughts on “Cal 74, USC 73

  1. Need to make FT however it is once again painfully obvious how poor PAC-12 officiating is. When they called the foul on Metu w 5 seconds left they need to give Jordan th same respect at the other end. Either could have been called or not, but they can’t call one and not the other.

    • Poor baby, are the Pac-12 officials picking on Andyain’twinning. Nobody, I mean nobody get more let’s help bozo u win calls than any other two or thre Univ. teams combined. Only Duke rivals bozo u in cheap calls help.

    • I didn’t see the Metu’s block but the Cal block looked clean. Cal had two big men under the basket waiting for McLaughlin. IMO, this was a must win for the Trojans, a BB Program that plays poorly on the road in PAC-12 Stadiums. Should end up above .500 in the PAC-12 somewhere between #4 to #6.

      • I would’ve given the ball to Metu to take it to the hoop! Get the foul by Rabb and get 2 FT’s. Tie or win the game!

        • Snore!!!!!

          Why not setup Shuckie Buggs for the last shot. He was huge tonight.

          No cupcake = Andyain’twinning/bozo u loss.

        • Good point, Andy. it appeared to me the entire Cal Defense was waiting for McLaughlin”s drive to the hoop.

          • The 2 Kal bigs were right there at the basket waiting! Just surprised the SC coaches didn’t push Metu! It would’ve been a gimme! Metu makes it—game won and/or gets hacked! Free throws made either tie it or win it. They’ll learn from this! SC is still ranked #25!!

        • You didn’t watch so don’t comment. First guy hit his arms allowing the second guy to get the block. Same as Metu except no foul called. Enfield should be upset. At the end of games you’re either calling these type of plays fouls or not. You can’t however award ft at one end w 5 seconds left and not the other.

          • You know what happens when you assume, burnt4F. I watched the whole game without rah rah glasses on and the refereeing was equal for both teams.

      • The first guy hit McLaughlin’s arms with his arms while blocking the shot and he leaned into McLaughlin. It should have been a foul. Enfield was very mad about the non call. But then McLaughlin might have missed both the way he was shooting free throws.

        • That’s possible. Nothing looked flagrant to me. We can’t go 10-21 free throws and expect to beat a quality PAC-12 Team.

    • Let’s see, Cal was called for 23 fouls and SC was called for 22. Obviously the refs were against SC.

  2. As expected, Wolf feels the need to bring up the non-conference schedule, just like its groundhog day. The non-conference schedule had nothing to do with USC going 10-21 from the line. That’s what cost them the game.

    • Learning to play in pressure situations the last two minutes of the game before league play started would have helped tonight. McLaughlin misses the key free throw, Rabb makes both his free throws and then McLaughlin drives all the way in and gets the shot blocked. The game was up for grabs and Rabb grabbed it.

  3. The Blogger totally nailed it: Shooting free throws against easy nonconference opponents didn’t prepare USC for shooting free throws against Pac 12 competition.
    #brilliant

    • You really don’t think it is different having to make free throws with the game on the line in tight conference battles instead of in laugher games against cream puffs?

      • Confession —-I wrote that while angry —-now, looking back, I realize I was mad for two reasons: (1) I was angry we lost a game we needed to win, (2) I was mad that Scott was actually right in another one of his predictions —he’s been saying the nonconference schedule wouldn’t prepare us for Pac 12 play all along (just like he said Sark, Max, etc., etc., didn’t have it all along —–people who are prescient really irk me).

  4. I caught the last 4 mins, good game. Not an excuse, kids need to step up.. They are playing shorthanded, but playing good. Just wait, Ucla has not had the injury bug.. Plenty of season left, Gotta FIGHT ON!

    • Injuries aren’t a usual thing in basketball. UCLA did lose 2 players for the year that are now redshirting. Perhaps Wolf thought Cal defended the free throw line well.

      It did seem that Enfield overcoached a bit at the end with the timeouts. Making free throws solves the problem at the end of not getting a call that probably would seldom get called.

  5. Hate to say it, but this is the kind of SC basketball game that lets us down and makes us lose the enthusiasm to continuously root for the team and attend the games. The team needs to win the games that they’re supposed to and winnable. Until then, there always will be many half-hearted fans who’ll only be hot on win streaks, instead of through thick and thin.

    • Spot on. The announcers even commented how the student section at the f uucla games has become more of a factor since they turned the program around this year. We really needed this win and it was there,all even with a minute left.

  6. Received mixed info on a 5* USC commit.. But pieced it together. Sounds USC flipped the #1 DL prospect who will take his official on 1-13 .. ✌

    • Darnay Holmes is making the wrong decision. His decision was a guilt trip from dad and that’s sad on the dads part. His father is still angry with USC for parting ways with his nepwew after the fact they agreed when he first commited that if he didn’t improve on his extra academic work load that the coaching staff required for him. He actually got actually said he let USC down. He was too much of a risk an Darnay father hasn’t let that go and and that makes me feel sorry for Darnay. We now have to put our fullest attention to finishing up on DT’s. The coaching staff but specifically Kenechi Udeze, Clay Helton, and Clancy Penders better get off the couch or refund some his paycheck back to USC, but all of them have to be aware of the DT big board with names that we missed on. They need to get their best pitch and catch read to sell these kids because this is usually wear the kids start avoiding phone calls. Tufele and Solomon should A#1 on our list.

      • I agree .. On the flip BKU was the recruiter of record, but since possible flip it shows Tee Martin!

        • Really hope it’s Solomon because UCLA has the #1 DE and now the #1 out west. That’s just on their parts but USC cant let this go on and continue.

          • One of the message boards says Holmes father is out for money, he just got hired to coach an Adidas 7 on 7 team. Their Chris Hawkins dad said his 7 on 7 is a buisness and it works out great but he will give them the proper opinion on college, he even wanted Stanford after SC. DHolmes dad is just out to pimp his son and now more kids to his boy Demetrius Martin. Also, CB’s on 247 went from Alabama to cloudy so we be have moved up on him.

          • Yeah, and UCLA was an Adidas school when this all went down; the funding of Proway is by Adidas. This has been two years in the making. That’s why the dad went ballistic yesterday when Darnay told him that he wanted to go to UCLA. The Chimp had to sign off on all this. This is going to get crazier as the days go on. Someone get Yahoo sports on this. Let the world know.

          • Come on Sam…. you are better than this… Is the this the kind of reasoning that got you banned with the last SN? Come on Sam… this is just sad.

          • Good kid. Terrible father. He should be banned from being around the 7 on 7 circuit. Terrible football school. Beautiful campus. Great place to film a National Lampoons college movie but as far as football goes this young man was given the keys to a lemon and he had to pay for it. Poor kid.

          • This + Adrian Klemm’s reputation…..Darnay Holmes father sounds like trouble for UCLA. It’s only a matter of a time.

          • Ugly has two very good players. SC, well, hate to break it to you, they have more of them.

          • Sammy, you slinging 2nd and 3rd hand gossip because bozo u major whiffed on a 5 star CB recruit that chose 4 – 8 UCLA is scraping the bottom of bozo u’s recruiting barrel.

          • Daddy had to throw a fit to son and guilt him into signing with a broke down but pretty powder blue football program. This has Mique Juarez written all over it…..only he’ll be leaving camp for USC or Ohio State.

          • Gee Sammy, just another one of your bozo u lock loser boasts.

            Sammy, has Osa been convicted yet?

  7. Sure it did. Numbers don’t like. USC is 19 in the RPI – numbers don’t lie, Scottie. Mac was fouled on the last drive, but he also missed way too many free throws. Can’t win without hitting the freebies. They’ll learn from it. But the sky is no falling Hennie Pennie….er…. Scottie.

  8. We should have won that game. We didn’t knock down some shots that were gimmes inside the paint. Small crowd or not we have to win this game even without Bennie Boatwright. You can’t be a top of the conference in any sport if you dont win games at home. Time to regroup and go back to the drawing board.

      • He’s gonna have win one like that if he keeps getting blocked. Oregon and Cal were altering his drives to the basket

        • They must have him scouted to finish drives at the end of games. They waited for him instead of challenging him in the middle of the key.

    • Come on Sam if it wasn’t for that prayer that went in before the end of the first half southern cal would have lost by at least 4!

  9. If you say so Bunky. As of tonight, Andyain’twinning has lost to every ranked BB team he’s been forced to schedule.

      • No, my mistake. It appears the ranked Cal Bear’s weren’t.

        This makes the ranked bozo’s home defeat vs Cal even worse. Losing at home to a higher ranked BB team is one thing, but losing to an unranked BB team at home implies the bozo’s are way overrated.

        If bozo u can’t defeat Cal BB at home, how do they rate being ranked ahead of Cal?

        #shiuckiebuggsneedstostepup

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