They were hired less than two weeks apart last spring, each tasked with building Big Ten programs that were torn down to the studs. Eric Musselman and Dusty May had each taken wildly different paths in that process — Musselman stocking his USC roster with athletic wings, while May, at Michigan, built around two towering big men. But both had approached their brutal Big Ten slates in need of a statement, some kind of sign that showed their new teams could survive the gauntlet to come.
Months of soul searching had led USC to the brink of that moment Saturday, having fought its way back once, then again, then again, returning every haymaker from Michigan with a punch of its own.