3 Takeaways from Indiana Basketball's 81-75 Loss at USC

LOS ANGELES — USC senior forward Ezra Ausar stared into Reed Bailey's eyes, if not soul, and clapped his hands several times a few in front of the Indiana basketball senior forward's face.

Ausar was moments removed from soaring over Bailey, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring an and-one putback floater — one that gave Bailey his third foul and, after making the free throw, pushed the Trojans' lead to 46-39 with 14-and-a-half minutes remaining in the second half.

Such was life for Indiana on Tuesday night at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, a night where USC, foul trouble and rebounding ultimately buried the Hoosiers' hopes of securing a fourth consecutive win.

Indiana (15-8, 6-6 Big Ten) suffered an 81-75 loss to USC (17-6, 6-6 Big Ten) to cap its two-game west coast swing.

Wilkerson carries scoring load, gets little additional help

At halftime, Indiana trailed 35-30, and sixth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson had 13 points despite playing only 12 minutes due to foul trouble. The Ashdown, Ark., native was 5-for-7 shooting from the field and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

Wilkerson's share of the Hoosiers' scoring production only marginally declined in the second half, as he led the team with 33 points on 11-for-20 shooting, including 5 of 12 from distance, to go along with four rebounds and three steals.

But Indiana had little offense outside Wilkerson.

Senior forward Sam Alexis had 8 points on four shots, his most productive offensive outing since an 11-point effort Jan. 20 at Michigan. The rest of the Hoosiers' starting lineup struggled.

The trio of senior forward Tucker DeVries, senior guard Conor Enright and junior guard Nick Dorn combined for only 14 points.

Dorn, who averaged 22.3 points in his first three games upon entering the starting lineup, went only 2-for-12 shooting from 3-point range. DeVries tallied 5 points while going 1 of 9 from the floor, and Enright notched only 3 points.

Still, the Hoosiers scratched and clawed, trimming a 14-point second-half deficit to one possession inside of 35 seconds remaining. But their hole was too big to climb from, and their late-game push ultimately ran out of time.

USC's offense proves clutch, unrelenting

The Trojans came out of the gates as hot as the Los Angeles sun to a Bloomington resident who's endured the recent sub-zero temperatures. USC started 7 of 7 from the field before enduring a five-and-a-half minute scoring drought.

All told, the Trojans controlled the game offensively.

USC shot 46.3% from the field, and while it went only 6-for-17 shooting from beyond the arc, it made 25 of 31 free throws, which proved particularly critical to thwarting Indiana's runs down the stretch.

The Trojans also dominated the glass, outrebounding Indiana, 40-25, and they collected 11 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 15 second-chance points.

West coast trip ends at 1-1, and NCAA Tournament hopes still in fine shape

Indiana won the first leg of its five-day west coast swing, beating UCLA, 98-97, in double overtime. The victory gave the Hoosiers their third consecutive win and second Quad 1 triumph in as many games.

According to BracketMatrix, there were 28 NCAA Tournament bracket projections done between Feb. 1-2, and Indiana was included in 27, slotted primarily as a 9, 10 or 11 seed. A loss Tuesday night, to a USC team ranked No. 48 in the NET, won't do much to hurt the Hoosiers' postseason standing.

Indiana now returns home to face Wisconsin (16-6, 8-3 Big Ten) at noon Saturday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.