Last weekend, the USC-UCLA women’s basketball rivalry traveled to Galen Center, where the Bruins resoundingly defeated the Trojans, 73-50, in an all-around dominant showing.

On Saturday, however, it will be the men’s turn in the spotlight, as USC and UCLA battle for the second time in two weeks to finish off the regular season. In their previous matchup Feb. 24, the Bruins made quick work of the Trojans at Pauley Pavilion with an 81-62 victory, marking UCLA’s third consecutive win in the rivalry.

Will history repeat itself Saturday night? Or will USC turn its luck around to even the season series? Sports editors from the Daily Bruin and Daily Trojan have assembled to offer their predictions for the matchup.

Connor Dullinger — Sports Editor, Daily Bruin

Bring out the brooms.

UCLA men’s basketball will sweep USC for the second consecutive year. There is no doubt about it.

The Bruins trounced the Trojans at Pauley Pavilion, and now the latter are without their best player, graduate guard Chad Baker-Mazara.

Baker-Mazara led USC with 25 points and eight rebounds on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 completions from beyond the arc in the rivals’ last contest. Only one other Trojan reached double-digits — freshman guard Alijah Arenas dropped 10 points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field — and omitting junior center Gabe Dynes, who took one shot, no other USC player fired over 50% from the field.

Without Baker-Mazara, the Trojans lose one of their best rebounders, most efficient 3-point shooters and strongest overall offensive players.

USC lost by 19 with Baker-Mazara, but now that the dynamic part of its offense is gone, I find it difficult to see a world where the Trojan offense runs the Bruin defense out of the gym.

However, the adversarial confines of Galen Center combined with the defensive pressure and bad matchup that senior forward Ezra Ausar gives the Bruins’ leading scorer, senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, indicate the game is not going to be a walk in the park.

But it seems unlikely that USC will be able to compete with a full-strength UCLA squad for all 40 minutes. 

Senior guard Donovan Dent went for 30 points last time around, and while it may not be his night come Saturday, there is a whole arsenal behind him — one that the Trojans cannot match on offense or counter on defense. UCLA 75, USC 59.

Kai Assad — Sports Editor, Daily Trojan

Third time’s the charm … right?

USC has had a rough few weeks in basketball. The women’s and men’s teams are on four- and six-game losing streaks, respectively, both including 20-point losses to the Bruins.

UCLA women’s hoops looks like the best team in the nation not located in Storrs, Connecticut, meaning that nobody had the Trojans winning there — although I, unfortunately, had the closest guess of the game score by far. However, UCLA men’s basketball is much less unanimous, as it currently sits seventh in the Big Ten standings and is not in the AP Top 25 despite a recent hot streak.

Incredibly, I don’t think that matters. I have the same amount of faith in men’s basketball that I did in women’s.

In its five-game slide, the team largely found solace in the scoring efforts of Baker-Mazara, along with a standout game against Ohio State from Arenas. However, with Baker-Mazara reportedly dismissed from the team and that Ohio State match being the last time Arenas dropped 20 points — he’s been shooting just 32.4% from the field since — the team seriously needs to step up.

Even worse, teams that have demolished USC like Nebraska, which is having its best season ever, and Illinois, the largest margin of defeat in the Musselman era, have had the opposite result against the Bruins. Dent’s overtime buzzer beater against the Fighting Illini capped off an incredible upset, and that momentum was carried into a 20-point rout of the Cornhuskers.

The last time the Trojans and Bruins played, USC lost by 19 points. These two teams are on opposite trajectories, and ultimately, I think the gates are wide open for UCLA. UCLA 80, USC 58. 

Bennett Christofferson — Sports Editor, Daily Trojan

This was always going to be a tough game to win for USC, which will enter Saturday’s matchup on a six-game losing streak — including an 81-62 loss to this very same UCLA team less than two weeks ago.

Then, it was announced that Baker-Mazara was no longer on the team.

For a team that has struggled with player absences all year, including season-ending injuries to junior guard Rodney Rice and senior forward Amarion Dickerson, the departure of the Trojans’ leading scorer appears to be the final nail in the coffin. Baker-Mazara dropped 25 points in the previous rivalry game, and USC still lost by 19. 

How are they supposed to close that gap without him?

For starters, Arenas and sophomore forward Jacob Cofie need to shoot better than their combined 3-for-15 last time around. The Trojans also can’t let Dent score 30 again, or nothing they do on offense is really going to matter.

USC desperately needs to beat the Bruins if it wants to stay in the NCAA Tournament conversation; unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. The loss of Baker-Mazara will prove to be too much to overcome, as the Trojans end the regular season with yet another defeat. My prediction: UCLA 79, USC 65.