For most of the night, USC men’s basketball was in control over Rutgers, until press defense came and the turnovers started to pile up. It caused chaos in the final minutes. Still, USC found a way to walk away with a 78-75 win Saturday night at Galen Center.
USC had built a big lead, and in the early minutes of the second half, the Trojans were up by as many as 19 points. Rutgers was able to cut the deficit to one possession in the final minute thanks to Rutgers’ junior guard Tariq Francis, who finished with a game-high 26 points.
Francis drove upcourt with a chance to send the game to overtime, but a last-second steal by graduate guard Chad Baker-Mazara sealed the deal.
“Chad made a fabulous play at halfcourt, poking the ball away,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “From an understanding of what we need to do, I thought it was a super high IQ play.”
The game went back-and-forth until the Trojans began attacking the paint and winning the rebound battle, which allowed USC to have a 10-point lead at half.
To open the second half, USC picked up right where they left off and went on a 13-2 run, which was fueled by great interior finishes by senior forward Ezra Ausar and sophomore forward Jacob Cofie.
Cofie finished with a double-double scoring 15 points and hauling in 10 rebounds, while Ausar scored 21 points and drew eight fouls in the contest.
”I just have the mindset of being the most physical person out there," Ausar said. “I know that’s something I’ve been slacking at. So, today was just the day to pick it up.”
Freshman guard Alijah Arenas delivered big sparks on that 13-2 run as well, drilling his first 3-pointer in his collegiate career. A few moments later, Arenas knocked down another three to give USC a 51-32 lead.
USC continued to control the game. Baker-Mazara scored on a transition layup and then followed that up with a step-back three to add to his 17-point night.
The final field goal USC scored in the game was an Ausar and-one that gave the Trojans a 74-57 lead. The bad news was that there were still four-and-a-half minutes left on the clock.
USC couldn’t find a way to break the press, turning the ball over 17 times, with 12 of the turnovers coming in the second half. The extremely comfortable lead started to shrink slowly, but surely.
“We stunk against the press,” Musselman said.
Rutgers never stopped fighting. With its defense restricting USC from moving upcourt, Francis took full advantage, scoring off the dribble and scoring 17 of his 26 points in the second half.
Francis’s efforts led Rutgers to an 18-4 run. Francis hit a pull-up jumper with 36 seconds left to cut the game to three points at 78-75.
After Baker-Mazara missed a layup, he delivered the decisive moment, knocking the ball loose from Francis as time expired to get the victory.
”I was just basically baiting him,” Baker-Mazara said. “I know he likes to do the left-to-right cross. He took the bait.”
Despite the rocky finish, Musselman still cared about the importance of closing out a conference win.
“We won a Big Ten game,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff we can learn from.”
USC faces a tough test on Tuesday as the Indiana Hoosiers come to the Galen Center right on the heels of defeating Purdue and a double-overtime victory against UCLA.