LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team was two-thirds of the way through a grueling three-game road trip and fresh off of losses to Michigan and Michigan State when head coach Eric Musselman brought his team together in Minneapolis.
They dined together. They practiced at the Minnesota Timberwolves’ facility. Four nights of breaking bread in Minneapolis united the team and allowed them to pull off an overtime win against Minnesota and, on Tuesday night, return home to Galen Center and beat Maryland, 88-71.
“We needed that after getting our butts kicked at Michigan and Michigan State,” Musselman said after beating the Terrapins. “We needed kind of a rejuvenation.”
Maryland (7-10 overall, 0-6 Big Ten) was desperate for its first conference win, and the Trojans (14-3, 3-3) didn’t want to be the ones to hand it to them.
Jordan Marsh scored a team-high and season-high 20 points on 50% shooting off the bench, thanks to a standout performance in the second half.
“I was just getting to my spots, and I just trusted my shot,” Marsh told reporters. “I work on it all the time, so I just believe it’s going in every time.”
Ezra Ausar and Jacob Cofie chipped in 12 points apiece and Gabe Dynes had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds despite fouling out late in the game. Jerry Easter II also had 10 points.
USC’s leading scorer, guard Chad Baker-Mazara (19.9 ppg), did not start the game, but the Trojans received a near-immediate boost when he checked in.
He made a layup just 15 seconds into his shift to give USC a 10-9 lead and finished the first half with seven points, which at the moment tied him for a team high.
Baker-Mazara did not participate in the first part of the team’s pregame warmups, but he did shoot around before the game began. He was seen next to the team bench with director of sports performance Andre Carrera, who was walking him through medicine ball mobility exercises.
He scored seven points in eight minutes but did not play at all in the second half. Musselman said after the game that Baker-Mazara is dealing with a sore neck and did not say if he will be available for Saturday’s game against fifth-ranked Purdue (15-1, 5-0).
Dynes, a 7-foot-5 center, started in place of Baker-Mazara after recording a season-high 36-plus minutes in the Trojans’ win at Minnesota.
His presence as a disruptor in the paint allowed USC to shut down the Terrapins in the second half and also take control of the game early. The Trojans went on a 7-0 scoring run that was punctuated by a dunk from Ausar, which got USC a 17-0 lead – its biggest advantage of the first half.
“Our defense in the second half – a lot of the credit goes to Gabe Dynes, too, because he altered shots and he alters people from thinking about going in there,” Musselman said.
Maryland rattled off six unanswered points toward the end of the first half to stay in the game. The Terrapins hit four free throws while pushing the pace to gain a 37-33 lead.
Marsh knocked down a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the half to get the Trojans within one, and Kam Woods made two free throws to give them a 42-41 advantage at the break.
Marsh provided a spark again in the second half and made two deep 3-pointers from near the top of the key as part of a 13-2 run. He also made an alley-oop pass to Dynes, who was playing while in foul trouble, for a 63-56 lead.
The coaching staff was divided on whether or not to put Marsh in the starting rotation.
“It was like a 4-4 tie,” Musselman said, “and I had the final vote. We didn’t start him, but we got him in there really quick because our spacing was a little bit better.”
USC created further separation in the latter half by working inside-out. Jaden Brownell went in for a layup, then followed with a 3-pointer, and Marsh mixed up his shot selection as well to finish with 17 second-half points.
The Trojans shot 56.3% from the field in the second half to close out the victory.
The challenges will keep coming for USC against Purdue on Saturday afternoon. The Boilermakers have the second-best offense in the conference, averaging 86.4 points per game.
