USC falls short to Iowa despite dominant performance from Kam Woods

IOWA -- You couldn't get any closer than that. 

The USC men's basketball squad entered its matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes on the cusp of winning a close battle between the Wisconsin Badgers, and Wednesday's test at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena would prove to be yet another tough sleeper against Big Ten competition as they would fall to the Hawkeyes 73-72. 

Last month, with the looming injury bug catching victims left and right, the Trojans signed graduate guard Kam Woods as an additional man to have in an already short-staffed Trojans squad. 

Entering tonight's game against the Hawkeyes, Woods had accumulated 25 points. 

After the final buzzer rung throughout Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Woods walked off the court leading the Trojans with a career 33 points on 12-17 shooting, three rebounds, and three assists. 

Along with a career performance, he single-handedly brought USC back from a 17-point deficit, as at one point in the second half, he scored 17 straight USC points and had the Trojans within striking distance of the Hawkeyes with a 71-68 score with 90 seconds left. 

Even with rallying all the way back from a 17-point deficit, a costly foul to Iowa's Bennett Stirtz iced the Trojans chances of notching an impressive come-from-behind win. 

Stirtz would sink both free throws, and with 4.6 seconds left in the game, the Trojans had the ball down by one. 

Head Coach Eric Musselman would draw up a play designed for Woods, but his three-point shot attempt would bounce off the rim, and in the blink of an eye, the Hawkeyes would escape, giving up a double-digit deficit, and leave home unscathed. 

The Trojans fall to 15-6, just under the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten standings, and look forward to facing off against Rutgers this Saturday at home.