USC fizzles in 2nd half, routed by Saint Mary’s at Acrisure Classic

PALM SPRINGS — USC was outscored by 24 points in the second half of its Acrisure Classic opener on Thursday night – a game that left head coach Eric Musselman searching for positives.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Musselman said after the 71-36 loss to Saint Mary’s. “I’m extremely disappointed in so many different areas. Hopefully we will come out and play much better basketball tomorrow. We really struggled offensively and defensively. Other than limiting ourselves to only 10 turnovers, there weren’t many positives to take on either side of the ball.”

Jordan Cohen had 12 points to lead USC (5-2), which shot just 4 for 23 (17%) from the field after halftime while being outscored 39-15. The Trojans shot a dismal 26% from the field for the night (13 for 50), going 0 for 12 from 3-point range.

Jordan Ross scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting to pace the unbeaten Gaels (7-0), who are off to their best start since they tied the program record with nine consecutive wins to open the 2013-14 season. Paulius Murauskas and Augustas Marciulionis added 11 points apiece for the Gaels.

Saint Mary’s will face Arizona State (6-1) in the tournament championship game on Friday at 8:30 p.m. The Trojans will face New Mexico (5-2) at 6 p.m. in the consolation game.

Cohen scored in the lane to give USC a one-point lead with 7:32 to play in the first half but Ross hit a jumper 26 seconds later to give the Gaels the lead for good and Ashton Hardaway hit a 3-pointer before Cohen made a layup to make it 23-21 with 5:01 left. The Trojans went 0 for 4 from the field and committed two turnovers as Saint Mary’s closed the half with a 9-0 run to take an 11-point lead into the break.

Cohen scored inside to cut the deficit to single digits about a minute into the second half but Ross scored eight consecutive points for Saint Mary’s before Barrett made back-to-back baskets to cap a 12-2 run that made it 44-25 with 15 minutes to play.

USC, which had to bring in virtually an entirely new roster in the offseason, switched its starting lineup for the seventh consecutive game, going with Cohen, Terrance Williams II, Matt Knowling, Saint Thomas and Desmond Claude.