USC’s Jonah Mathews is coming in from the top rope on a conference rival.
Speaking with the media on Monday, the senior guard was asked about the possibility of playing the NCAA Tournament without fans due to coronavirus concerns and responded by getting in a shot at Washington State.
“That would be terrible. Terrible,” said Mathews, per Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve never had to play with nobody there really — except in Pullman, Washington, I guess.”
For what it’s worth, the Cougars are 11th in the Pac-12 this season at 15-16, and that has indeed translated to difficulty filling their home arena. They regularly struggle to get to even one-third capacity, and their game against USC in January saw a pitiful 2,256 fans in attendance of a possible 11,671.
While Mathews certainly has a point, he is probably feeling himself a bit lately as well after his weekend buzzer-beater downed another rival school.
