SAN DIEGO — Even with Rodney Rice sidelined, the USC men’s basketball team has shown it has plenty of firepower.
Chad Baker-Mazara scored a season-high 31 and Ezra Ausar scored 22 of his career-high 29 points in the second half before fouling out as USC used the second half to take control and beat San Diego, 94-81, on Tuesday night, bouncing back from their first loss of the season.
Reserve Jaden Brownell scored 16 points and shot 4 for 5 from 3-point range for USC (9-1), which eventually stopped committing turnovers and separated itself from USD (3-6) with an 18-2 run. Brownell propelled the Trojans to a 9-of-15 showing from behind the arc.
Baker-Mazara added game-highs of eight rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots while scoring 20 points or more for the fourth straight game, the first Trojan to do that since Byron Wesley in the 2013-14 season.
Ausar, who played limited minutes in the second half of USC’s home loss to Washington on Saturday, shot 10 for 12 from the floor Tuesday – on a night when USC shot 62% from the field (29 for 47) – and grabbed seven rebounds.
After a tie at 38, Alejandro Aviles’ layup gave the Toreros a 48-46 lead a little more than five minutes into the second half. From there, Ausar took over the game with a personal 7-0 run that was part of a 13-0 surge.
Once USD ended its three-minute scoring drought on a Gavin Ripp layup, USC answered quickly to extend the run with a Baker-Mazara 3-pointer. His attempt from the left wing banked hard off the glass and in, leaving him laughing as he ran back down the court and the Trojans were never challenged again.
Baker-Mazara’s hot scoring stretch has helped pick up some of the slack with USC playing a fourth consecutive game without Rice, who was averaging 20.3 points per game when he sustained a shoulder injury in a Maui Invitational semifinal on Nov. 25.
Despite shooting 55% from the field (11 for 20) during a first half that featured eight ties and 10 lead changes, the Trojans committed 13 turnovers that led to 14 San Diego points. Entering Tuesday, USC averaged 12 turnovers per game.
Dominique Ford scored 22 points to lead USD. Ty-Laur Johnson had 13 and reserve Juanse Gorosito contributed 10 points and four assists.
USC improved to 7-0 all-time against the Toreros.
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USC hosts former Pac-12 rival Washington State on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
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