Before facing Indiana, freshman guard Alijah Arenas had single-digit points in all four of the games he played in. Arenas, who started the season injured with a torn meniscus, came into Tuesday night’s game with two possible storylines: yet another disappointing game for the former five-star or a true breakthrough into the spotlight. 

Arenas undoubtedly chose the latter, going for a whopping 29 points against the Hoosiers (15-8, 6-6 Big Ten) with an additional six rebounds. Past just the stat sheet, USC’s (17-6, 6-6) offense seemingly flowed through Arenas, with the guard dribbling through double teams, setting up teammates and looking all-around confident on the court. 

“I made a conscious effort against Northwestern to start [Arenas] and not bring him along slowly,” Head Coach Eric Musselman said in a postgame news conference. “I don’t regret that at all because we knew it would pan out sometime in the first five to six games. It worked out tonight.”

Arenas’ breakout certainly fired up Head Coach Eric Musselman post-game, who eventually joined the USC student section to congratulate the players once the game was over. 

“My team kept me level-headed, kept me together,” Arenas said in a postgame news conference. “Honestly, without my team, I kind of start losing myself, which is why I’m grateful to have them.”

Arenas’s coming-of-age was put into sharper focus with the second-half injury of graduate forward Chad Baker-Mazara, the Trojans’ leading scorer with 18.3 points per game. Baker-Mazara, who went down in the first minutes of the second half after Indiana senior forward Sam Alexis came down on his leg, has been a crucial piece of USC’s offensive strategy. 

Also important for the Trojan win was graduate guard Kam Woods, who played all 40 minutes and finished the night with 18 points and six rebounds. Woods, who has been cold from the three-point line throughout the season, electrified the crowd at Galen Center with two shots from beyond the arc in the middle of the second half. Those points gave USC a 14-point lead, its largest of the game.

“Kam knows what I want,” Musselman said. “He’s on the same wavelength with my thought process … I don’t know where our season would be if we hadn’t picked up Kam when we did.”

Indiana stayed competitive until the final whistle thanks to well-timed 3s by Hoosier senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, who finished with a game-high 33 points. While USC went on big 8- and 10-point runs late in the second half, Indiana’s full-court press and deep ball shooting kept the game close. 

There was a chance of an Indiana comeback in the second half when USC starters senior forward Ezra Ausar and sophomore forward Jacob Cofie both fouled out with 1:55 and 0:47 left in the second half, respectively, leaving freshman guard Jerry Easter II and graduate guard Ryan Cornish to fill in at the vacant roles. 

However, a late block by Cornish to keep Indiana at two scores away and clutch free throws from Arenas and junior guard Jordan Marsh — who returned for a minute of play time after suffering a toe injury in practice — separated USC from the Hoosiers in the final seconds. 

“To think that Chad wouldn’t play a second half and those other two guys foul out, and then we still found a way to win,” said Musselman. “This game is not worth [just] one game. There’s bubble implications tonight. There’s Big Ten standings implications. There’s tiebreaker implications. So, a big win.” 

Other than Wilkerson, the Hoosiers could not get much going offensively, with no one else on the team racking up double-digit points. However, senior guard Conor Enright helped distribute with eight assists. 

In the end, USC took home a much-needed win after a too-close-for-comfort victory against Rutgers on Saturday. The key for the Trojans was their dominance on the glass, fueled by efforts from junior center Gabe Dynes, Ausar, Arenas and Woods, with the team out-rebounding the Hoosiers 40 to 25. 

As it stands, USC sits right under Ohio State and Indiana in the Big Ten rankings at 11th. Next on the docket for the Trojans are two away games against Penn State (10-12, 1-10) and Ohio State (14-7, 6-5), with the latter being especially important for the Trojans if they want to leapfrog the Buckeyes in Big Ten standings. USC will head to University Park, Pennsylvania, to face the Nittany Lions on Sunday at 9 a.m.