WESTWOOD — Some losses are painful, and some are lingering. It felt like the latter for the USC Trojans Tuesday night inside Pauley Pavilion.
With the playoffs already on the line, USC enters rival territory in need of urgency, execution and maybe a little desperation. Instead, it lost 81-62 to the UCLA Bruins, their fourth straight loss in the most brutal moment of the season.
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The Trojans are now 18-10 overall and 7-10 in the Big Ten. Mathematically speaking, their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament aren’t gone, but they are fading fast, growing further and further away with every defensive miscue and every offensive opening in the second half.
Dent delivers the dagger
If there was any doubt about who controlled this game, Donovan Dent quickly dispelled it. Dent averaged 13.3 points on the night. He left 30.
The Bruins guard scored 26 points against USC midway through the second half and finished with 30 points and seven assists on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Whenever the Trojans showed momentum, Dent responded — with a transition three, a hesitant drive, or a drive that led to another back-breaking shot.
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With seven minutes left in the game, UCLA extended its lead to 13 points, its largest lead of the night. Control never wavered. The Bruins shot 49 percent overall and an astounding 60 percent in the second half, carving up a USC defense that is now difficult to stop after halftime and has lost four straight games.
The story has become painfully familiar.
Arenas can never find a rhythm
For USC, the spotlight naturally turns to Aliyah Arenas. The freshman didn’t take his first shot until 8:59 into the second half. By that point, UCLA had already built a double-digit cushion.
Arenas played nine minutes in the first half, attempted just one shot and scored four points (all from the free throw line). UCLA’s defensive plan was clear: force him away from the ball, crowd his space, and let others attack.
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It worked.
Arenas played 21 minutes and scored 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting. For a USC team looking for reliable perimeter creation, nearly 30 minutes without one of its leading scorers on a field goal proved serious.
The Trojans need more. They don’t understand.
turnovers and rhythm
Turnovers set the tone early.
In the first half alone, USC committed 10 players to UCLA’s three. Many of them weren’t forced by great defense — they were live-ball turnovers that fueled transition runs and lit up Pauley Pavilion.
To their credit, the Trojans turned the score around after halftime, committing only four turnovers in the second half. But UCLA was more consistent, coughing only twice in the final 20 minutes. This ball security allows the Bruins to control the tempo and maintain a cushion.
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UCLA’s eight steals highlighted the difference in defensive sharpness.
Baker-Mazara’s Lonely Spark
If there’s a constant pulse at USC, it comes from Chad Baker Mazzara.
Baker Mazzara scored 25 points to provide the Trojans’ only consistent offensive spark. He got off to a hot start in the first half but never really cooled down, scoring 11 more points in the second half. Without him, the game might have disbanded sooner.
Cam Woods had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 30 minutes, while Jacob Coffey struggled offensively, adding 2 blocks but scoring 3 points on 1-for-7 shooting.
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As a team, USC shot just 35 percent from the field. Its offensive efficiency is not high enough, and its defense is not strong enough.
In his second season leading the Trojans, Eric Musselman is currently 0-2 at Pauley Pavilion.
More worrisome than the venue, however, was the timing. March is approaching and USC is heading in the wrong direction. The Trojans have now suffered a four-game losing streak, and problems with second-half defense, scoring drought, and clutch turnovers are repeating themselves.
Not much time to stay.
USC returns to the Galen Center to take on the No. 12 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon. It’s another chance – perhaps the last clear chance – to stabilize a season that’s slipping from their hands. With divisional scores at 18-10 and 7-10, the margin for error was gone.
