USC men’s basketball walked into Madison on Sunday carrying the weight of a midseason skid - and walked out with a win that might just turn their season around.
The Trojans, losers of two straight and struggling to find their footing in Big Ten play, outlasted a red-hot Wisconsin team 73-71 in a gritty, back-and-forth battle that featured 10 lead changes and a whole lot of urgency on both ends. This wasn’t just a road win - it was a statement from a USC squad fighting to stay in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
Baker-Mazara, Boyd go toe-to-toe in scoring duel
From the opening tip, USC came out with purpose. They pushed the pace, played with energy, and built an early 10-point lead behind the hot hand of graduate guard Chad Baker-Mazara, who had himself a night. Baker-Mazara poured in 29 points, including five triples, and seemed to be everywhere when USC needed a bucket.
“Chad looked like an All-American tonight,” USC head coach Eric Musselman said postgame - and it wasn’t hyperbole. Baker-Mazara’s performance was the engine behind USC’s offense and the anchor that kept them afloat when the game started to slip away.
But Wisconsin wasn’t going to roll over. Led by senior guard Nick Boyd, the Badgers clawed their way back into the game before halftime.
Boyd scored 29 points of his own on an efficient 10-of-17 shooting night, and his fingerprints were all over Wisconsin’s offense. He hit tough shots, set up teammates, and gave USC’s defense fits.
By the time the teams hit the locker room, Wisconsin had flipped the script. A pair of Boyd buckets and a three-pointer assisted by him in the final minutes of the half gave the Badgers a 41-39 lead - their first since the early going. Momentum had shifted.
Boyd got help from junior forward Nolan Winter (12 points) and junior guard John Blackwell (11), and for a stretch, it looked like Wisconsin might run away with it.
USC rallies behind toughness, timely plays
With 12 minutes to go, Wisconsin had built a 12-point lead after senior guard Braeden Carrington drilled a deep 27-foot three. USC looked like a team on the ropes, teetering on the edge of another frustrating loss.
Instead, they responded with one of their gutsiest stretches of the season.
The Trojans ripped off a 16-2 run, fueled by defense, hustle, and a refusal to let the game slip away. Baker-Mazara kept hitting shots. Senior forward Ezra Ausar, playing through injury, gave USC a massive lift with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a key tip-in that broke a 65-65 tie late in the game.
“Ezra, he’s really banged up,” Musselman said. “He grinded through a game where many players wouldn’t have played. It was super important to get an outstanding effort from him like we did tonight.”
Sophomore forward Jacob Cofie continued his strong stretch on the glass, pulling down a team-high 11 rebounds - his third straight game with double-digit boards. That kind of consistency has been rare for USC this year, and Cofie’s presence in the paint was a difference-maker.
Freshman guard Alijah Arenas added 7 points, and fellow freshman Jerry Easter II chipped in 4 points and four rebounds off the bench - but it was Easter’s late-game defense that sealed the win.
With the Trojans clinging to a two-point lead in the final seconds, Boyd drove hard to the rim looking to tie it up. But Easter II got just enough of the ball to alter the shot, which bounced off the rim and into his hands. Ballgame.
A much-needed win with March in mind
This one mattered. USC entered the game on the NCAA Tournament bubble, with bracketologists projecting them among the last four teams in the field.
Beating a Wisconsin team that had won five straight - including a win over then-No. 2 Michigan - gives the Trojans a potential Quadrant 1 win to bolster their resume.
And they did it while cleaning up some of the issues that have haunted them in recent weeks. After committing more fouls than any other Big Ten team coming into Sunday, USC played a relatively disciplined game, finishing with just 15 fouls compared to Wisconsin’s 17. They also shot 17-of-23 from the free-throw line - a major improvement from the 17 missed free throws that doomed them against Northwestern.
With six weeks to go until Selection Sunday, every game counts. And this one - a road win against one of the Big Ten’s hottest teams - might be the spark USC needed.
Next up: a road test at Iowa on Wednesday. The Trojans (15-5, 4-5 Big Ten) are still fighting for position, but after Sunday’s performance, they’ve shown they’re not going down quietly.