Southern California wraps up its Midwest road trip on Wednesday with a visit to Iowa City, where the Trojans will face an Iowa team that’s starting to find its rhythm again. The Hawkeyes have strung together back-to-back wins and are looking for a third straight as they try to build momentum heading into the Big Ten stretch run.
Iowa (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten) has bounced back nicely after a three-game skid, notching a convincing 74-57 win at Indiana before grinding out a 68-62 victory over Rutgers. That win over the Scarlet Knights pulled the Hawkeyes back to .500 in conference play, and with eight days off since, head coach Ben McCollum is hoping the team can turn rest into results.
“This is the stretch run,” McCollum said Tuesday. “We’ve got 12 games left, and we’ve got to make sure we take what we’ve learned over this break and be better for it - without any rust.”
Defense has been Iowa’s calling card all season. They’re allowing just 62.4 points per game - fourth-best in the country - but when opponents crack the 70-point mark, the Hawkeyes have struggled. They’re just 1-4 in those games, a stat that could loom large against a USC team that thrives on offense.
The Trojans (15-5, 4-5 Big Ten) roll into Iowa City for the first time since 1982, and they bring one of the conference’s most explosive offenses with them. USC is averaging 82.1 points per game and is undefeated (11-0) when scoring 80 or more. But when the scoring dips below 70, the results shift dramatically - just 1-4 in those contests.
They showed their scoring punch again on Sunday, edging Wisconsin 73-71 in a tight one. Chad Baker-Mazara was the headliner, dropping 29 points in just his second game back in the starting lineup after dealing with a neck injury. His return has been a jolt to the Trojans' attack, and he now sits at 19.2 points per game - sixth in the Big Ten, just ahead of Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz (18.3).
Baker-Mazara’s offensive outburst was backed by strong performances from Ezra Ausar, who added 17 points despite battling through back and ankle issues, and Jacob Cofie, who pulled down 11 rebounds. Cofie’s been a force on the glass lately, notching double-digit boards in each of USC’s last three games.
“His effort to pursue balls has been phenomenal,” USC head coach Eric Musselman said of Cofie's rebounding work.
Ausar’s gritty performance fits a season-long theme for USC - battling through injuries. The Trojans lost their top scorer and primary playmaker, Rodney Rice, to a season-ending shoulder injury. They also had to wait on blue-chip freshman Alijah Arenas, who missed the start of the season with a knee injury suffered over the summer.
Arenas finally made his debut on Jan. 21 against Northwestern, but he’s still finding his footing. Through two games, he’s shooting just 6-of-27 from the field for a combined 15 points.
Still, with Baker-Mazara heating up, Cofie controlling the boards, and Ausar grinding through pain, USC has found a way to stay dangerous. Iowa, on the other hand, is hoping its defense can hold the line and keep the Trojans in check - because if USC gets rolling offensively, they’re tough to stop.
This one has all the makings of a classic Big Ten clash - a high-octane offense against a stingy defense, with both teams looking to climb the conference standings.