Gonzaga’s Khalif Battle takes the good with the bad in exhibition loss to Eric Musselman, USC
PALM DESERT, Calif. – Khalif Battle rattled off the things that didn’t sit well with him after Gonzaga’s exhibition opener on Saturday night.
He didn’t defend well enough in a game in which a single stop could have been the difference. He was hard on himself for grabbing only three rebounds. He scored 20 points and carried the Zags through a few rough offensive stretches, but he also missed key shots that could have changed the outcome.
As for the most discouraging aspect of Gonzaga’s 96-93 loss to USC at Acrisure Arena?
“Playing against my old coach, I wanted to get this one,” Battle said. “But it’s an exhibition. Kudos to him and his team, they played hard. We’re going to go back to practice and learn from our mistake.”
It was important to keep the larger picture in mind – both for Battle and Gonzaga – after the Zags came up short in their first test against someone in a different uniform.
That might have been easier for Battle if someone other than Eric Musselman was coaching the Trojans. Seven months earlier, USC’s first-year coach was drawing up plays for Battle at Arkansas, where the transfer guard spent one year before entering the transfer portal and moving to Gonzaga for his sixth and final season of eligibility.
Musselman and Battle didn’t talk at length before or after Saturday’s game, but the two traded a few worlds in the postgame handshake line. The Gonzaga guard shared a long embrace with USC assistant Todd Lee during pregame warmups and briefly caught up with two other coaches who followed Musselman from Arkansas, including his son Michael.
“He just told me he loved me,” Battle said. “His coaching staff told me they loved me and I can always reach out. In this basketball thing when you meet a lot of people, you tend to create relationships, and that was my family last year, but this is my family this year. So I’m just happy to be where I’m at right now.”
There were plenty of positives from Battle’s debut in a Gonzaga uniform. The guard’s 20 points came on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, 4 of 8 from the 3-point line and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. He started alongside Ryan Nembhard, Michael Ajayi, Ben Gregg and Graham Ike, and was part of the unit that closed the game – a group that also included Nembhard, Ajayi, Nolan Hickman and Braden Huff.
“Some good things and then some stuff he’s got to correct,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of Battle. “Which is good. We played a tight game so he’s fouling, they’re in the double bonus and it’s just a dumb play. You can’t foul when they’re in the double bonus.”
Battle had the first five points for Gonzaga and was the first player to reach double figures, scoring 12 of his 20 points by halftime. He was responsible for four of the team’s nine 3-pointers, but also Gonzaga’s most critical miss.
After Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi knotted things up at 89 when he knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner, Battle had a chance to put the Zags in front roughly a minute later. His 3 ricocheted off the rim and USC’s Desmond Claude made a jumper on the other end to extend the Trojans’ lead to four points.
Still, Battle gave fans a glimpse of what he can offer to the Zags this season. Musselman weighed in with his thoughts during a postgame interview outside USC’s locker room.
“He’s one of the best free-throw attempt players in the country,” Musselman said. “He’s explosive, he can score 12 points in a hurry. He’s going to win games for you. Anytime the offense struggles, he can get you a bucket. He’s going to turn the game into a 4-on-4 game because if people are smart, they’re not going to leave him. He’s a competitor and … he’s one of the most explosive scorers in the country.”