The Trojans lose their third straight December game in a tightly-contested matchup with the Bulldogs on Saturday night.
- USC's latest loss was largely due to their inability to shutdown Georgia on the perimeter. The Bulldogs' sharp-shooting duo of Dustin Ware and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went a combined 8-of-9 from three point range, as the Trojans' gave up a season-high .667 percent from downtown. Although USC managed to hold Georgia's big men to a combined six points on the night, the Bulldogs' guards and small forwards had their way with Kevin O'Neill's defense. "Our defense betrayed us down the stretch," O'Neill said. "We can't play like that, giving up open threes and playing from behind. We blew four or five defensive assignments tonight that really hurt us."
- The Trojans' 63-59 defeat marks the team's fourth loss at the Galen Center this season, all of which have come by six points or less. As was the case in their loss last weekend to New Mexico, USC actually clung to a small lead in the final two minutes of the game, but failed to make enough plays down the stretch, "Credit them because they were able to make shots at the end, and we weren't able to," said O'Neill. "This group of guys is going to have great days here and they are going to win a lot of games here. But, right now they are struggling a little bit and they aren't able to close out close games. And that's unfortunate, but with that comes a lot of valuable lessons, that when the days are good down the line, and they will be for these guys, they'll end up appreciating them a whole lot more."
- In a losing effort, freshman guard Alexis Moore put in a career-high 18 points, thanks to his 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Over his four previous games against New Mexico, Minnesota, UC Riverside and South Carolina, the former star from Long Beach Poly HS had a combined 18 points on 7-of-24 from the field. "At the start of the season, I wasn't making shots and was getting down on myself, but I have the greatest teammates in the world who kept lifting me up and telling me to shoot it," said Moore. "I feel like I am starting to get into a little bit of a rhythm now, just trying to help the team in any way I can."
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- Here's Moore on his career night, the team's inability to do the little things down the stretch and how losing close games could actually benefit the Trojans in the long run.
