USC men's basketball makes statement with third conference road win

The USC Trojans scored a huge road victory over Wisconsin this weekend, edging them out 73-71. With the win, the Trojans move to 15-5 overall and 4-5 in Big Ten play.

The star of the night was Chad Baker-Mazara, who dropped 29 points, nailed five three-pointers, and was flawless from the free-throw line which is exactly what USC needed in a tense, hard-fought game in a hostile road environment. Ezra Ausar backed him up with 17 points, six of which came in crunch time. Jacob Cofie and Alijah Arenas added 9 and 7 points, respectively.

USC continues to display their winning mentality, staying perfect at 5-0 in one-possession games this season. While they’ve let a few winnable matchups slip away, especially at home, snagging a win against a talented and storied program like Wisconsin will only boost the Trojans’ résumé when Selection Sunday rolls around.

"Chad was phenomenal down the stretch. This is a huge win," head coach Eric Musselman said. "We play better basketball on the road than we do at home, that's kind of a non-arguable truth of where we are. I'm really proud; what a job by Jerry Easter. He came in, and the two free throws were huge; the defense was huge. He was plus 11 basically the last 12 minutes of the game, so he was phenomenal for us."

The Trojans played a clean game, committing just five turnovers and keeping pace with a taller Wisconsin team in the rebound battle, trailing by only one. They held the Badgers to well below their season shooting average, and while USC made just six three-pointers on 24 attempts, Baker-Mazara’s five triples proved enough to seal the win.

The Trojans will stay on the road as they take on Iowa on Jan. 28, with the game airing on the Big Ten Network at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET). Currently sitting at No. 11 in the Big Ten standings, a win over Iowa could catapult them to No. 8 if everything falls into place.