Arenas' coming-out party ruined by Northwestern

As he laid in a hospital bed last April, lucky to be alive, Alijah Arenas dreamed of this moment.

- BY RYAN KARTJE

ALIJAH ARENAS, right, makes a layup as Arrinten Page defends in USC's 74-68 loss to Northwestern.

(MARK J. TERRILL Associated Press)

He thought of it in the weeks and months after his Tesla Cybertruck hit a tree and burst into flames in Reseda, leaving him hospitalized for six days. And he thought of it over a long summer and fall spent rehabbing the injured knee that failed him in his first week back to practice at USC.

Nine difficult months spent waiting for the day finally culminated Wednesday night with Arenas roaring into the lane, with just one defender standing between him and the hoop.

The five-star freshman had committed to USC with every intention of bolting for the NBA after one season, only for the setbacks of the past year to put his likely lottery status in doubt.

Now here, as he lifted toward the hoop early in his college debut, Arenas spun around that lone defender in midair and softly laid in a finger roll, reminding everyone in attendance of the talent they'd waited so eagerly to see.

But what unfolded from that moment on Wednesday night probably wasn't how Arenas or any Trojan would have envisioned it, as Northwestern, a team previously winless in the Big Ten, spoiled the star freshman's debut and left USC spiraling with a 74-68 defeat.

"Critical, critical loss tonight," USC coach Eric Musselman said. "I can't. I mean, just brutal."