Mar 12, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; USC Trojans head coach Eric Musselman in the second half against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Chad Baker-Mazara scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half, and Southern California put up its second and third halves of 55-plus points this season on the way to a 114-83 rout of visiting Manhattan on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Coming off of a 57-point half to close last Monday’s season-opening rout of Cal Poly, USC (2-0) continued to click offensively en route to the program’s highest-scoring outing in almost 28 years and the most in the history of Galen Center.
For USC, six other scorers joined Baker-Mazara in double-figures. Ezra Ausar finished with 17 points, Rodney Rice shook off a sluggish shooting start to score 14 points, Terrance Williams scored 10 points and Jacob Cofie recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Jordan Marsh knocked down 3-of-5 from long range en route to 11 points and Jaden Brownell added 13 points off the bench.
The Trojans shot 6-of-11 from 3-point distance before intermission.
The Trojans cooled from deep in the second half, going just 2-of-10, but still finished shooting better than 50% from the floor overall for the game at 41-of-81.
Baker-Mazara, a transfer from 2025 Final Four participant Auburn, helped key the Trojans at both the 3-point and free-throw lines. He shot 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and a perfect 9-of-9 on foul shots, despite dealing with foul trouble in his own right.
Baker-Mazara was on the sidelines with foul trouble for most of a 20-4 run that he began his made jumper at the 13:18 mark and extended until Quron Elliott’s 3-pointer with 8:23 remaining.
That stretch snuffed out any hope of a rally for Manhattan (1-1), which had been hovering around an 18-point margin after USC first extended the lead to double-digits with a 25-11 push to close the first half.
Jaden Winston led all scorers with 29 points. He shot 9-of-14 from the floor, and went 3-of-5 from 3-point distance. The rest of the Jaspers went just 3-of-17 on 3-point attempts.
Anthony Isaac scored 16 points and Terrance Jones added 18 points for the Jaspers.
The Trojans balanced distribution fueled USC’s first 100-plus-point game since a 106-78 rout of Eastern Washington on Nov. 29, 2023 and a program single-game high since a 117-71 blowout of Arizona State in March 1998.
–Field Level Media
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