LOS ANGELES — The boos rained on Mississippi State’s players every time they brought the ball up the court. They continued into halftime as the Bulldogs cheerleaders took the stage, then when Mississippi State came back out of the locker room, and when one of them tangled with Rayah Marshall in the postgame handshake line.
The blame didn’t lie with them, but the USC fans needed somewhere to direct their anger. It was overwhelming. How could it not be? The air had been sucked out of the building, their greatest fear materializing in front of them. The hopes of the best team most of them could remember in their lifetimes crumpled, in an instant.