USC freshman Wesley Yates III delivered a stellar performance, but Michigan's size and experience proved too much in a 85-74 Big Ten home opener loss.
LOS ANGELES — He bent in a stance approximately 90 feet from the basket, nodding his head at a Michigan guard, Wesley Yates III attempting to bend the very concept of momentum to his own youthful will. He’d never played a minute of collegiate basketball before this season, yes, spending an injury-plagued season at Washington before transferring to USC. He was prone to mistakes. He’d turned 60-year-old head coach Eric Musselman’s hair grey, at times.
But his energy had changed the dynamic of USC’s program since he was inserted into the starting lineup, across a four-game win streak, and USC So, with Michigan holding a six-point lead 12 minutes into the second half, Yates III decided – for no reason – to pick up full-court. A blink passed. And Yates III poked a dribble free, corralling a loose ball and finishing a scoop layup, flexing every fiber of his biceps as the Galen Center rocked in a USC team that refused to quit. The freshman was magnificent all evening, helping pull USC back from a 15-point halftime deficit. Youthful buzz, though, wasn’t enough to match Michigan’s might, in height and execution, and a back-and-forth Big Ten home opener slipped out of USC’s grasp in the final minutes, the Trojans falling 85-74 in a game much closer than the final score. With 3:23 left and USC down just 73-71, point guard Desmond Claude picked up his fifth foul, a brutal blow to USC’s offensive flow. Michigan scored on a couple of subsequent possessions, 7-foot-0 Wolverines star Danny Wolf packed a Yates III floater, and Musselman was left with nothing more than a disgusted wave at officials on his way off the floor. USC fell to 9-5 (1-2 Big Ten), despite 19 points from Yates III on 7-of-12 shooting and 19 from Claude. Wolf led Michigan (11-3, 3-0) with 21 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, with four other Wolverines scoring in double figure
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