INDIANAPOLIS — On his team’s fifth trip to the Eastern or Central time zone this year, USC men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman could barely open his eyes after a late-night, double-overtime win against Rutgers.

“I’m so exhausted,” Musselman told a reporter as he walked to the locker room.

USC arrived at the Big Ten tournament with enough time to absorb the three-hour time difference, but the grind of long flights, constant time changes and inconsistent start times has taken its toll.

“My wife summed it up best this morning that she’s never seen me so sick throughout the course of a college basketball season,” Musselman said. “That’s a fact. I did not sleep one second (Tuesday) night, and it wasn’t because of nerves for the game, I can promise you that.

“You take a nap at weird hours, and I wasn’t the only one. I texted our staff at 3:30 in the morning, and four guys responded. Normally, they respond the next day at 9 or 10 in the morning.”

Four West Coast schools entered the Big Ten this year, which created numerous scheduling challenges in every sport for the league office and its 18 members. In efforts to limit travel in men’s basketball, the league chose to consolidate nearly every trip for teams heading three time zones ahead and most from the Pacific to the Central time zone.

It worked for the original 14 Big Ten teams, which traveled either to USC and UCLA or Oregon and Washington and played two games before returning home. Those teams finished 14-14 in their West Coast swings.

“When we did the Oregon-Washington trip and we were on the road for six days and had those two games, I told my staff, ‘I can’t imagine having to do this four times,’” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said.

But it was far more difficult for the West Coast schools USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon. Of their 10 road Big Ten games, they were assigned four solo-game trips — three with one another, the fourth at either Minnesota or Nebraska. Then they were given three doubled-up trips east such as Maryland-Rutgers, Michigan-Michigan State or Iowa-Wisconsin.

The game results matched the difficulty. Before the Big Ten tournament, the West Coast teams finished 10-18 when heading to the Eastern or Central time zone. USC, UCLA and Washington all went 2-5 on their eastern trips, and Oregon was 4-3. At the Big Ten tournament, USC, UCLA and Oregon combined to go 2-3.

“We talked about it before the season, and I told them we’re not going to talk about it anymore,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “We didn’t discuss it. We didn’t talk about it one time. I said, I don’t want to hear anybody making excuses. I said this after the Wisconsin game, we wanted to be in the Big Ten. You guys aren’t moving. We’re not moving Oregon. So, we knew there were going to be trips.”

Altman’s approach included making his players move around the airplane in midflight, which is similar to the methods employed by former Pac-12 rival Cal during its rigorous ACC men’s basketball schedule. This year, Oregon outperformed its West Coast neighbors by the slimmest of margins. The Ducks won their four eastern games by a combined 9 points with Iowa and Wisconsin missing potential game-winning shots at the end of regulation.

UCLA, USC and Washington weren’t as fortunate. Though those coaches expressed appreciation for competing in the Big Ten, they also are interested in cutting down cross-country travel and time on the road.

Musselman, who coached previously in the NBA and other leagues, consulted with NBA trainers and the Los Angeles Rams for travel advice on player wellness. He recommended the Big Ten consider shifting to three-game trips, in part because of a late February trip that took the Trojans to Maryland and Rutgers, back to Los Angeles to face Ohio State then up the coast to Oregon over a nine-day block.

“I’ve coached in the NBA. That trip is as hard as any NBA trip I ever went on, I guarantee it,” Musselman said. “It wasn’t just the two road games. It’s coming home; that game’s harder than the two road games. Then you go back to Oregon. That’s not a 30-minute flight.

“We play a late game on a Sunday in Rutgers. We fly home. We get back at 5:30 in the morning on a Monday. The guys have class at 9 a.m. on Monday, after we just landed. Then we practice Tuesday, and we play Ohio State. We’re down 17. Finally, we get our legs under us, catch up, lose that game. Then we get on a plane to play Oregon.”

Washington coach Danny Sprinkle recommended the league trim its policy of mandatory two-day preps during the regular season to ensure quicker returns home on the longer trips. Any changes would require an overhaul of the league’s scheduling principles, which includes no more than two consecutive trips, two days between contests and balanced scheduling for the first 10 and second 10 regular-season games. In addition, schools can play a maximum of five games in 13 days and no more than four games over 10 days.

“Every season and each matchup are unique regarding the impact on teams involved,” Big Ten men’s basketball administrator Brad Taylor said. “It’s our goal to limit the impact on a particular school or group of schools from one season to the next. For example, this year we tried to avoid scheduling games around exams and arranged schedules in a way that allowed traveling teams to play two games on the same road trip. We continuously evaluate our format with input from school administrators to see how we can improve. Our primary focus is to provide the best experience possible for our student-athletes.”

Even with future travel adjustments, Sprinkle said “it would have to take an elite team” from the West Coast to win the Big Ten regular-season title. Musselman agreed.

“UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington are going to have to be three to four games better than everybody else flat out,” Musselman said. “You can argue about it or whatever, but that’s a fact.”

“Look, we feel playing in the Big Ten is a privilege. It’s an incredible league to be a part of. You’re going against brand names every night. It’s just an adjustment for us.”

(Top photo of Rashaun Agee: Alex Martin / Journal and Courier / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)