Alijah Arenas’ debut spoiled by USC’s loss to Northwestern

Lying in a hospital bed last April, lucky to be alive, Alijah Arenas dreamed of this moment. He thought about it in the weeks and months after his Tesla Cybertruck hit a tree and caught fire in Reseda, leaving him hospitalized for six days. And he thought about it during a long summer and fall spent rehabbing the injured knee that failed him in his first week back to practice at USC.

Nine difficult months spent waiting for the day to finally culminate Wednesday night with Arenas roaring down the lane, with only one defender standing between him and the hoop. The five-star freshman had committed to USC with every intention of joining the NBA after one season, only for last year’s setbacks to cast doubt on his likely lottery status.

Now, as he walked toward the hoop early in his college debut, Arenas circled around that lone defender in the air and gently extended in a finger roll, reminding everyone in attendance of the talent they so eagerly awaited.

But what happened from that point on Wednesday night probably wasn’t the way Arenas or any other Trojan would have imagined, as Northwestern, a previously winless team in the Big Ten, spoiled the freshman star’s debut and left USC in a spiral with a 74-68 loss.

“Critical, critical loss tonight,” coach Eric Musselman said. “I can’t. I mean, it’s just brutal.”

It certainly wasn’t the way the Trojans coach hoped his team would view the return of its most talented player. Afterward, Musselman wondered aloud if he made the right decision by throwing Arenas straight into the fire as a starter and having him play 29 minutes. He finished with eight points in his debut, shooting three of 15 from the perimeter in a performance that left him visibly exhausted throughout. At one point, he left to have his knee evaluated by trainers on the bench.

“He should be a high school senior,” Musselman said. “Reclassified, missed an entire summer, and then you throw him in the middle of Big Ten play. … Should I have started him? Maybe not. Should I have played him less minutes? Maybe. But we’re having a hard time right now finding five guys with the way we’re shooting and blowing coverages.”

With losses in three of its last five games Wednesday, USC (14-5 overall, 3-5 in the Big Ten) had hoped the arrival of its five-star freshman would act as a balm to the start of its Big Ten slate. But there were only so many problems talent could cover up for the Trojans, even though Northwestern entered Wednesday night on the heels of a five-game losing streak.

Arenas’ debut didn’t suddenly correct the Trojans’ free throw woes. After hitting just five of 14 in a loss to Purdue on Saturday, USC responded by shooting 26 of 43 on Wednesday night, with Northwestern content to foul them just about every time the Trojans went inside.

Once again, no one, including Arenas, could get past a three-pointer for USC either, as the Trojans followed a 3-of-20 from deep against Purdue by making their first two three-pointers…only to miss their next 11.

Musselman called USC’s effort from the stripe and the 3-point line simply “horrible.”

“That can’t happen if we want to win,” Marsh said.

USC also can’t expect its leading scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, to foul out with nine minutes left in the game and hope to stay afloat.

“Sixth-year player, and he fouled out in 13 minutes,” a frustrated Musselman said. “This is unheard of.”

It was Marsh, Arenas’ replacement in the backcourt, who would once again bring the Trojans back from the brink against Northwestern after the Wildcats had led most of the game. Just a week earlier, Marsh dropped 17 points in the second half of USC’s win over Maryland. On Wednesday, he was even better, scoring 19 after halftime.

But there wasn’t much he or the five-star USC freshman could do in the final minutes as Northwestern repelled every push from the desperate Trojans, thanks in large part to the efforts of senior forward Nick Martinelli, who torched USC for 22 points.

Still, USC held strong throughout the second half, never letting Northwestern’s lead exceed eight. Marsh drove down the lane with a chance to cut Northwestern’s lead to just one possession in the final 15 seconds. But his stay escaped him wildly.

The loss spoiled a debut that had perhaps been the most anticipated at USC in at least a half-decade, since Evan Mobley graced the Galen Center court in 2021. But while Mobley led the Trojans on an Elite Eight run, his lone season at USC was played in front of empty arenas due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Arenas, meanwhile, was exactly the kind of blue-chip prospect Eric Musselman and his staff had hoped to build around, the type who could convince people to come watch USC hoops.

The road to this point turned out to be much more arduous than expected. But what seemed like a light at the end of the tunnel Wednesday night didn’t look as promising for USC as the final buzzer sounded.

That left the USC coach and his players wondering where this season could be headed. And not necessarily in a good way.

“I don’t know,” Musselman said. “I guess I’ll keep looking.”