USC Coach Eric Musselman Vents Frustration with Officiating After Loss to Purdue

INDIANAPOLIS — USC coach Eric Musselman wasn't pleased with the whistle his team received in Thursday night's 76-71 loss to Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. The first-year coach of the Trojans was careful with his wording, but made it clear that he thought this crew made some crucial mistakes.

Perhaps two of the most controversial calls occurred in the last 30 seconds of the game. One came when Camden Heide collected an offensive rebound and his attempt to throw it back in hit off the bottom of the backboard. Musselman believed it hit off the back, which would have given USC possession.

Then, on a inbound lob pass to Trey Kaufman-Renn, Rashaun Agee was called for a foul with 28.3 seconds left and the game tied at 71-71. Kaufman-Renn converted the free throws and Purdue was able to escape with a win.

"I saw what everybody saw, you know what I mean? My daughter's at home. She watched it on TV. She's a freshman in high school. My mom's obviously living in San Diego watching it," Musselman said of those two calls. "All you've got to do is go on Twitter. Look, we played well enough to win. That's all I can say. I'm going to keep reiterating give Purdue credit. We're new, we've got to earn respect."

Eric Musselman crashing out, but this has been one of the worst officiated games I have ever watched #B1GMBBT pic.twitter.com/XlIGRiRlQ8
— 🆃ⓐ🅹🅷 ♕ (@Recru1t1ng_Guru) March 14, 2025

USC leading scorer Desmond Claude was also in foul trouble for most of the night. The star guard played just seven minutes in the first half and picked up his fourth foul at the 16:31 mark of the second half.

Claude finished the game with 18 points, making eight-of-16 shots. But Musselman also wasn't pleased with the foul calls going against his star player.

"I didn't know that Desmond was so physical, but he was tonight, I guess. The game's on tape, so anybody can watch it," he said. "It doesn't do me any good to sit up here and get fined or whatever. The game is reviewable for anybody that wants to."

Musselman's greatest frustration from Thursday night? He though his team was in position to pull off the upset and earn a spot in the quarterfinals. That's what made the loss to Purdue even more difficult to swallow.

"This is probably the most difficult game I've ever lost with a team," Musselman said, "and I've been coaching a really, really long time."

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