No. 24 Southern California will strive to remain unbeaten when it returns home to Los Angeles to face Big Ten Conference counterpart Washington on Saturday.
USC (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten) is coming off its second straight win with standout guard Rodney Rice sidelined due to a shoulder injury. The Trojans outlasted Oregon on the road Tuesday to open conference play, 82-77.
Rice — whose 20.3 points and six assists per game through the first six include just the second triple-double in program history — sustained the injury in USC’s semifinal-round win over Seton Hall at last week’s Maui Invitational.
In his absence, Chad Baker-Mazara stepped up for 23 points last Wednesday in the Maui championship game vs. Arizona State, then scored another 25 points at Oregon. Baker-Mazara hit a critical step-back 3-pointer on Tuesday that helped seal the win for the Trojans.
USC also got key contributions on Tuesday from Jacob Cofie, who scored 16 of his 17 points in the first half, and Ezra Ausar, who grabbed nine rebounds and netted all 13 of his points in the second half.
The inside-outside combination of Baker-Mazara and Ausar should continue to be a key for the USC offense, as coach Eric Musselman described in his postgame press conference.
“Our pick and roll with Chad and Ezra has been really, really good. Ezra’s a great dynamic roller, and he can short-roll and then put pressure off his dribble bounce game because he’s so powerful,” Musselman said. “Those two guys are a vital part of what we do, and I think that we need to continue to blend in Ryan Cornish and Jaden Brownell.”
Cornish and Brownell also helped fill the offensive void left in Rice’s absence, coming off the bench vs. Oregon to combine for four made 3-pointers. The Trojans are connecting from long distance at a 38.2% clip, 35th-best in the nation, to help fuel an offense putting up 90.6 points per game, tied for 20th nationally.
Washington (5-3, 0-1) needs to shore up its defensive effort. The Huskies come in on a two-game losing streak after dropping Wednesday’s conference opener vs. UCLA, 82-80.
Washington surrendered 28-of-53 shooting from the floor to the Bruins, including 9-of-20 from 3-point range, and yielded 46 second-half points to UCLA. Washington has allowed 81 points or more in three of its last four games, including an 81-68 loss to Colorado last Friday to cap the Acrisure Holiday Classic in Palm Desert, Calif.
While Wednesday’s loss put the Huskies in an early hole to start the Big Ten season, Washington came away from the defeat with an important building block off the play of Hannes Steinbach.
The freshman forward shot 11-of-12 from the floor en route to 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against UCLA.
“It’s who he is. He’s a great player,” Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said of Steinbach, who made his return from a three-game absence due to an ankle sprain.
Steinbach’s 17.4 points per game lead the Huskies. Wesley Yates III, who played at USC last season, is averaging 16.3 points per game.
Fellow USC transfer Desmond Claude has missed four games this season with an ankle injury. He scored 14 points for Washington against Colorado, but managed just five against UCLA.
