There has to be an old Aztec burial ground under the free throw lines at the Galen Center. There is simply no other way to explain the bizarre, consistent, unrelenting free throw shooting nightmare which haunts and hounds USC men’s basketball. This was a problem under Andy Enfield, and it’s clearly still a problem under Eric Musselman. The worst part is how impactful — harmful — this problem has turned out to be. It’s crushing USC basketball and destroying a promising season.
USC earned 25 more free throws than Northwestern on Wednesday night. Yet, Northwestern made over 83 percent of its 18 foul shots. USC hit just 26 of its 43 attempts. What should have been a plus-20 point differential for the Trojans at the foul line turned into a modest 26-15 (plus-11) differential. USC lost by six points, 74-68. Even a plus-18 differential would have been good enough.
USC is 31 of 57 — barely over 50 percent — in its last two games. The Trojans lost both games, to Purdue and Northwestern, by no more than six points.
We live in a modern world of NIL and the transfer portal, and coaches needing to make targeted, smart investments on the players who come to their programs. It’s maddening to think that with all the dollars invested in elite college athletics, something so simple and elemental — free throws — is deciding games and, moreover, doing so in a negative way.
USC was clearly on the good side of the NCAA Tournament bubble last week. Now, free throws have hijacked the season and put the Trojans on the wrong side of the bubble while UCLA, thanks to a win over Purdue, is on the positive side of the cut line.
What is even more exasperating is what we mentioned earlier: This was a long-running problem under Andy Enfield, who was himself a good shooter as a basketball player. It’s not as though Enfield didn’t know how to teach proper shooting technique. Free throws is one of those things where players simply have to get in the gym, stay there, and get the technique down to a science. For more than a decade — since Enfield came to USC in 2013 — the Trojans have usually been mediocre at best at the foul line, shooting under 70 percent in several seasons and under 73 in a few more. It’s very rare that a USC men’s basketball team shoots 75 percent or higher at the foul line. Yet, this is such a crucial part of heavyweight basketball, whether in the old Pac-12 or the current Big Ten.
Meanwhile, can someone please perform a ceremony to get rid of that Aztec burial ground curse? This nightmare at the free throw line needs to vanish for USC hoops.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC’s inexplicable free throw shooting nightmare simply won’t end
Reporting by Matt Zemek, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
