Grizfan-24 said:
USC basketball is an enigma. Consistently recruits NBA types, in recent years been comparable to UCLA, but always playing second fiddle to UCLA. They look the part at times and then flameout with strange losses to lower tier Pac 12 schools and finish like 5th in the conference. Of course that is a generalization, but one of those years all that talent and athletic ability will translate into consistent wins on the court.
They looked the part for 20 minutes on Saturday and very much indifferent for the other 20. I don't think the difference between USC and UM is as wide as it might have seemed in that first half, but like a lot of Power 5 schools they can just throw guys out on the floor that are physical specimens. USC has those guys in spades, and as DeCuire noted UM struggled with length. The USC radio guys were perplexed as to how the second half played out.
UM's problem under DeCuire is they seem in most of these games incapable of stepping out on the right foot at the beginning. In theory the Washington game might be winnable this year and it'll be because they are finally able to string together 40 minutes against a power 5 opponent. Since DeCuire's arrival, he has 1 power 5 win (Pitt) and close to 20 losses. That hasn't been for a lack of trying or talent either the results haven't been there. I'd like to say that Washington is a possibility this year, but it is hard knowing whether who we'll have or if we'll even play.
I suspect that S.C. suffers the same problem in basketball that we do: They're perceived as a football school. And while UCLA has never risen to its former glory years, its roster of current NBA players proves that it still draws incredible talent to its program: Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, Zack Lavine, Kevon Loonery, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, Trevor Ariza. (The while USC up until this year had only five players in the NBA, with only DeMar DeRozen being a prominent star.)
I've always hated SC because their football fans can be so insufferable, especially when they play Bay Area teams.
Yet I have nothing but kudos for their basketball program. When we played down there a few years ago, they set me up with courtside seats. And this time not only was the broadcast "fair and balanced" it was ever-so-respectful of the Montana program. Finally, when that SC kid refused to go in for one final dunk it was an act of sportsmanship that really won me over. I hope they go far this year.
As for Montana playing a "complete game" against a Power Five school, I will agree, we always hit these scoring slumps, whether to start (as against SC) or later (as against Stanford last year.
But in fairness to Travis, it is really tough as a mid-major to beat a Power Five school on their home court because so often the "foul situation" goes so decidedly against us. I mean, this happens so often in college basketball as to be well beyond any statistical norm. (And it happened to the Cats last night in their game at Pacifc.)
In the game against USC that I saw, we actually outscored them from the floor, but lost big at the fould line. Power Five teams simply cannot afford to lose on their home court to a mid-major, and I'm convinced that refs "know the score."
But we will pick one of these off--and soon.
