LOS ANGELES — The USC Trojans had another tightrope walk against a Big Ten opponent, but this time it ended on a positive note.
Head coach Eric Musselman and his team took on the 15-7 Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday night at the Galen Center and won 81-75.
The Trojans’ offense started the game with shots coming from both sides, converting their first seven field goal attempts in the first 10 minutes of the game and preventing the Indians from making any progress against a stellar defense in the paint.
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Freshman Alijah Arenas rejoined the team on Jan. 21 against the Northwestern Wildcats and has been steadily rising since then to knock off the rust from his absence over the past few months.
He started the first half as Southern California’s scoring leader (10) on some lopsided shot attempts (3-13).
Still, his performance against the Hoosiers will be a step in the right direction, as he scored a career-high 29 points on 9-of-23 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
After the win, head coach Musselman said he had no regrets about starting Arenas when USC faced Northwestern a few weeks ago, forgoing the traditional start of Arenas because he knew he only needed a few games to get back into shape.
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Musselman called Arenas’ performance “very impressive,” considering the 18-year-old has only played a handful of games at the college level.
Arenas thanked his team for developing him at the college level and sent flowers to Cam Woods, whom Arenas credited with his recent shooting performance.
“I kind of started to lose myself without my team, which is why I’m grateful to have them,” Arenas said.
Woods also had a great night on the court, shooting 6 of 12 from the field, scoring 18 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.
Woods and Arenas had to shoulder much of the offensive burden, as leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazzara suffered an ankle injury in the second half and had to be helped off the game.
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Later, as he sat on the sidelines, he would reappear on crutches with an ice pack on his knee.
Musselman did not provide a specific update on Chad Baker-Mazzara’s injury, but it is assumed he has a sprained MCL and won’t be known until Baker-Mazzara undergoes an MRI soon.
Despite the loss to Baker-Mazara, the Trojans were able to hold the Hoosiers to just over 40 percent shooting, and Ryan Cornish’s key block on the Hoosiers’ final field goal attempt was the final straw as USC earned its sixth conference win.
The Trojans are still some time away from their next game, taking on the Penn State Cougars in Super Bowl Sunday.
