A five-game losing streak has all but completely sunk the hopes of a March Madness run for USC men’s basketball, who fell 82-67 in a blowout loss against No. 12 University of Nebraska at the Galen Center on Saturday.
Coming off a similarly lopsided defeat to the rival UCLA Bruins on Tuesday, the Trojans (18-11) outplayed the Cornhuskers through the first half, but thoroughly collapsed after losing graduate guard and leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara three minutes into the second half.
“In the first half, I thought we played as good as we probably could, and in the second half, we didn’t do anything very good,” USC head coach Eric Musselman said.
Musselman had no information or update on the status of Baker-Mazara’s injury.
“He said he couldn’t go,” Musselman said.
Now sitting in 11th in the Big Ten with a 7-11 conference record, the spiraling Trojans are firmly on the outside looking in to potentially make the NCAA Tournament.
Robert Talamantes – The Sporting Tribune
USC Trojans Guard Kam Woods (13) drives by his defender while getting grabbed during a men’s college basketball game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Saturday February 28th, 2026 at Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
A quick five points from Baker-Mazara put the Trojans ahead 8-5 early, but a three-point barrage from the Cornhuskers (25-4) quickly snuffed out USC’s momentum.
Nebraska junior forward Pryce Sandfort, who entered Saturday’s contest needing just 10 threes to become the Big Ten’s all-time single-season three-point leader in conference play, nailed two early shots from distance to help spur a 10-2 Cornhusker run.
However, the Trojans battled back to lead for the majority of the first half due to an excellent start from Baker-Mazara.
The Auburn transfer, who had just returned from injury against the University of Oregon on Feb. 21, was the entire USC offense in the first half, as he racked up 14 points with two threes and two trips to the charity stripe to lead the Trojans to a 36-31 lead at half.
Robert Talamantes – The Sporting Tribune
USC Trojans Guard Cam Woods (13) celebrates after getting found and scoring during a men’s college basketball game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Saturday February 28th, 2026 at Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
To begin the second half, however, a four-point play on a deep 28-footer from Sandfort led to an eruption of applause, as the Galen Center was taken over by an overwhelmingly pro-Cornhusker crowd.
The USC defense, which held up well through the first half in holding Nebraska to shooting just 35% from the field, fell apart in the second half, as the Trojans’ side of the paint became a runaway for emphatic Cornhusker dunks.
“I feel like they came out with more energy, to be honest,” USC graduate forward Terrance Williams II said. “The first couple of possessions, you could see they wanted it more than we did, we didn’t come out playing hard, we came out lackadaisical.”
It was not until the 13:20 mark of the second half when Trojan freshman guard Alijah Arenas scored his first points of the game, as the son of retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas came off the bench for the first time this season.
After a three-game stretch of recording 24 points or more in three consecutive games, Arenas has struggled as of late, shooting a combined 8-for-29 in his last three games prior to being removed from the starting lineup against Nebraska.
Arenas recorded 14 points on 4-for-6 shooting with an increased offensive role in the second half following Baker-Mazara’s early second half exit.
Robert Talamantes – The Sporting Tribune
USC Trojans Guard Alijah Arenas (0) blows by his defender on his way to score during a men’s college basketball game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Saturday February 28th, 2026 at Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
“He’s got a lot of stuff on his plate that’s getting thrown at him in the middle of the year, so I thought there was some growth in his game tonight,” Musselman said. “You want a player to grow in a whole bunch of areas; tonight, there’s some defensive stuff that we got to sit down and show him and talk to him about as well.”
Following two quick buckets from Arenas, an astounding 15-0 Nebraska pushed the Cornhusker lead to 66-46, shutting the door on any chance of a USC upset.
Sandfort dominated the second half with 20 of his total 32 points, and finished 12-for-21 from the field with five threes.
With the game firmly in hand, the Cornhuskers would cruise to an 82-67 finish, extending their win streak to three and keeping the Trojans without a victory since Feb. 8 against Penn State.
USC will now head to the University of Washington on Wednesday in an absolute must-win game before finishing its season at home against UCLA on Saturday, March 7.
Robert Talamantes – The Sporting Tribune
USC Trojans Guard Jerry Easter II (8) dives on the floor for a loose ball during a men’s college basketball game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Saturday February 28th, 2026 at Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
“Two games and one Big Ten Tournament game, that’s all we’re promised right now,” Williams II said. “We can change the trajectory of this season very quickly.”