A difficult finish to the regular season continued for USC men’s basketball, falling to rival UCLA 89–68 on Saturday night at Galen Center to extend the Trojans’ losing streak to seven games.
UCLA’s offensive efficiency proved the difference throughout the night. Senior guard Donovan Dent led UCLA with 25 points and seven assists, scoring 19 after halftime as the Bruins shot 57.6% from the field and 52.9% from 3-point range. The Bruins finished with 19 assists and just six turnovers while USC shot 42.9% from the field and 29.2% from 3-point range.
Freshman guard Alijah Arenas paced USC with 20 points, after tying his career high for the third time this season with three 3-pointers. It was Arenas’ fifth consecutive game scoring in double-figures. Senior forward Ezra Ausar added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Trojans for his fifth double-double of the season.
This marked the fourth consecutive Crosstown Showdown loss for the Trojans, who fell earlier this season at UCLA 81-62.
Saturday’s loss came on Senior Night for USC, which honored Ausar, graduate forwards Jaden Brownell and Terrance Williams II, and graduate guards EJ Neal Jr. and Kam Woods before tipoff.
“It’s been a great two years, and I’m thankful for the USC family, Coach Muss, and everybody on campus for making this home,” said Williams II. “I was the only returning player this season, and that was for a reason. I love it here. I love the program. I love USC in general.”
The game remained tight early, with USC tying it at 21 on a basket from Woods with just over nine minutes left in the first half. UCLA responded with a decisive 14–2 run sparked by senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who scored 16 first-half points, giving the Bruins separation they would not relinquish. UCLA built a 45-30 advantage at the break.
USC briefly attempted to rally early in the second half as Arenas scored or assisted on eight of the Trojans’ first 10 points after halftime. But UCLA responded with another 14–2 run behind Dent’s scoring, pushing the lead to 67–44 with just over 12 minutes remaining.
The Bruins seized control midway through the second half. A flurry of efficient offense — including seven straight made field goals and seven points in just a minute — sparked a decisive run that pushed UCLA’s lead to 70-47.
Dent, who had six points in the first half, took over during that stretch. The senior guard attacked downhill and knocked down shots to help UCLA stretch its lead to as many as 25 points.
USC showed flashes of life late in the game. Arenas punctuated a 7-0 Trojan run with a fast-break dunk that cut the deficit to 84-66 with under three minutes remaining, drawing a loud reaction from the remaining Trojan fans in the Galen Center crowd.
But the Trojans never trimmed the deficit below 20 points as UCLA responded to seal the rivalry win.
UCLA had four players score in double figures, including 19 points and eight rebounds from junior forward Eric Dailey Jr. and 16 points from Bilodeau.
Sophomore forward Jacob Cofie finished with 10 points and five rebounds for USC in his 15th game this season scoring in double figures, while Woods tied his career high with 11 assists.
The Bruins dominated the interior, outscoring USC 34-22 in the paint and outrebounding the Trojans 37-26.
“I feel like Coach Muss in the past few weeks has been a lot more positive with us,” Cofie said. “He’s encouraging me, as well as a lot of the other guys and giving us positive encouragement. I trust Coach Muss’s coaching ability, so I know he has something in play for us.”
A double-technical foul involving Ausar and UCLA redshirt junior guard Jack Seidler with 22 seconds remaining led to Ausar fouling out as the Bruin crowd grew louder in the closing seconds.
The rivalry atmosphere tilted heavily toward UCLA, with large pockets of supporters audible throughout the arena. After the buzzer, Bruins fans filed out, filling Galen Center with a chorus of “f— SC.”
“It’s been a challenge here,” Musselman said. “Our home court has not been much of a home court advantage; we play better on the road than we have at home. That’s an area that we got to improve on.”
The matchup drove in the busiest student section for the Trojans all year.
The loss dropped USC to 18-13 overall and 7-13 in its second season in the Big Ten Conference.
With the program’s longest losing streak since the 2014–15 season, Musselman pointed to injuries and roster changes as factors in USC’s late-season struggles.
“It’s not my opinion — it’s a fact that we’re the most injured program in college basketball this year,” Musselman said. “UCLA was obviously the better team tonight.”
The Trojans have rolled out 15 different starting lineups this season, the second-most among major conference teams.
Musselman did not cite ex-graduate guard Chad Baker-Mazara’s absence as a reason for the loss. Baker-Mazara, the Trojans’ former leading scorer, was released from the team at the beginning of the month.
“We’re on a six-game losing streak,” said Musselman. “One player’s missed two games. We were on a losing streak before.”
The crowd disagreed, chanting for Baker-Mazara’s return.
After the game, Musselman reflected on how the meaning of Senior Night has changed in the modern era of college basketball.
“Senior Night in today’s landscape is much different than when I played,” Musselman said. “When I played, I walked out there with my group of seniors, and we’d all been there for four years.”
None of the seniors honored have spent more than two years at USC.
Despite that shift, Musselman said it was a “pleasure” to coach the group and added that the staff plans to help the seniors pursue opportunities beyond college, whether overseas, in the NBA Summer League or the NBA G League.
The Trojans will now turn their attention to the upcoming Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, likely needing a deep run to revive their fading hopes of reaching the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.