The USC men’s basketball team has to fight to rescue any chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
A costly 71-70 loss on Saturday to Oregon knocked the Trojans (18-9 overall, 7-9 Big Ten) down to No. 58 in the NET rankings, a six-spot fall from their previous position at No. 52. They’ll need to win as many of the remaining four games as possible — starting with UCLA (18-9, 10-6) on Tuesday.
“I’ve never had a season like this,” head coach Eric Musselman told reporters after the Oregon loss. “We’ve got a game that means a lot to the university on Tuesday against UCLA. I don’t know what to say other than we lost the game tonight.”
ESPN’s bracketology by Joe Lunardi hasn’t been updated since Friday, but those predictions had USC listed as a No. 11 seed. The Trojans were also projected as a “last four in” team, meaning they could be one of the last teams to make the field overall.
The Bruins are in a similar situation, though not as dire. They beat No. 10 Illinois 95-94 in overtime on Saturday to hold steady at No. 42 in the NET rankings. ESPN had projected UCLA as a No. 11 seed on Friday and as another one of its “last four in” teams.
UCLA and head coach Mick Cronin have had their share of negative attention this season, but the players affirmed after the Illinois win that they are bonded and confident ahead of USC.
“It’s a rivalry game. You get up for those games,” 6-foot-2 guard Donovan Dent told reporters. “For us, these last four games that we have left, we need to have intensity for all of them. Our season’s on the line right now, so we’ve just got to play with everything we have. We’re in desperation mode.”
Dent is the Bruins’ second-leading scorer (13.3 ppg) after Tyler Bilodeau, who is averaging 18.1 points per game on 51.4% shooting from the floor and 45.6% from long range.
UCLA is the Big Ten Conference’s second-best 3-point shooting team and makes 37.9% of its attempts. USC has been holding opponents to 30.9% from that distance and kept Oregon at 25%.
Having leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara available for a full game will also make a difference for USC on Tuesday night. The 6-foot-7 wing contributes 18.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game but had decreased availability due to foul trouble.
Baker-Mazara fouled out with a minute left in his first game back after missing three games due to a knee strain.
“There were some calls that I’m frustrated by for sure, but it doesn’t matter,” Musselman said. “We didn’t have much respect tonight with the whistle for sure, but again, it’s on us to play much better to not be in that position as well.”
The Trojans are 24-38 against the Bruins all-time and have lost the last two rivalry games. This chapter of the crosstown rivalry could be one of the most heated yet, considering what’s on the line for both teams.
“Holding each other accountable and keep pushing ourselves to be the best versions of ourselves every day,” graduate guard Ryan Cornish said.
“That’s the only thing we can really focus on. One day at a time. Worrying about all the little antics and side stuff, social media, any of that — it’s not gonna matter. We’ve just got to put our heads down and grind.”
USC (18-9 overall, 7-9 Big Ten) at UCLA (18-9, 10-6)
When: Tuesday, 8 p.m. PT
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV/Radio: FS1/USCTrojans.com/Listen
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