After the USC men’s basketball team’s latest head-scratching defeat Wednesday night, a 77-70 stinker at the hands of the Utah Utes to start the second half of Pac-12 Conference play, a comment from a Trojans captain revealed a disconnect from reality that will help explain why USC finds itself in the middle of a lost season.
The latter of those statements was true. The Trojans were dead from the moment they hit the hardwood. As for the former, USC is surely among the more talented teams in a weakened Pac-12, but, to reach its potential as a team worthy of an NCAA tournament at-large berth, it does not have the margin for error that the nation’s elite teams may have on an off night to play through a lapse in effort.