Riding a five-game losing streak and reeling from the sudden departure of graduate guard Chad Baker-Mazara, USC men’s basketball desperately needed a win Wednesday night. If the Trojans could manage to come away with the game against then-sub-.500 Washington, they would snap their five-game losing streak and provide a critical boost to their quickly dwindling NCAA Tournament hopes.

With a 3-point halftime lead, it looked like USC might see the end of its troubles; the sun was finally starting to shine on a rainy day in Seattle. However, it wasn’t meant to be.

In another late-game collapse, USC (18-12, 7-12 Big Ten) was dismantled 91-72 by Washington (15-15, 7-12), getting outscored by 22 in the second half.

“The second half was not anything we needed from a scoring standpoint or defensively,” Head Coach Eric Musselman said in a postgame news conference.

Washington freshman forward Hannes Steinbach dominated the Trojans, scoring 22 points and grabbing a career-high 24 rebounds, including 12 offensive. Steinbach collected the most offensive and total rebounds by a Big Ten player in a single game since the 2022–23 season, helping the Huskies outrebound the Trojans 46-to-37. His dominance on the offensive glass led to 20 second-chance points and 54 points in the paint.

For the fourth time this season, and the second game in a row, the Trojans gave up over 50 points in a single half. The first time this happened was against Washington earlier this season, which handed USC its first loss in a slightly different-looking, late-game collapse. 

After halftime, Washington outshot the Trojans 20-to-8 from the field and 5-to-0 on 3-pointers, going on two separate 10-0 runs. The Huskies also shined on defense, adding five blocks and eight steals in the win.

Shooting struggles, foul trouble culminate rough night and season

Despite making the most free throws per game in the NCAA with 19.3, the Trojans foul the most out of any team in the Big Ten, averaging 18.7 per game. Wednesday night was no different, as they added 17 fouls, leading to 15 free-throw attempts for the Huskies.

Sophomore forward Jacob Cofie, who ranks tied for second in the Big Ten with 3.1 fouls per game, contributed five of those 17 as he fouled out for the fourth time this season. Cofie was limited to just 20 minutes but managed to score 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting. He also recorded two blocks.

The only Big Ten player with more fouls per game is Cofie’s teammate, senior forward Ezra Ausar, who was called for four against the Huskies. Ausar put up 17 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, playing nearly all 40 minutes despite his foul trouble.

Freshman guard Alijah Arenas was the Trojans’ leading scorer for the night, putting up 19 points on an abysmal 5-for-16 and drawing blank on two attempts from 3-point range. Arenas, who was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench on Saturday, now sits at a near-34% shooting clip in the 11 games he has played this season.

Three of the Trojans’ four 3-pointers came from junior guard Jordan Marsh, who caught fire in the first half with 11 points. However, Marsh proceeded to miss every shot from the field in the second half, with his three second-half points coming from the charity stripe. His six misses from deep brought the team’s 3-point percentage down to around 21%, compared to Washington’s seven makes.

Grim Trojan future visible in regular season finale

USC’s rocky 2025–26 season has been all but expected: Injuries at the beginning of the season dismantled the starting lineup, ludicrous losses late in games and the untimely departure of its Baker-Mazara — the team’s best still-healthy player — were not what Musselman had in mind.

After starting the year 12-1 and winning the Southwest Maui Invitational in November, the Trojans have gone just 6-11 since, losing to every ranked team they played, as well as some of the worst teams in the Big Ten, including Washington — twice.

As the final day of the regular season commences on Saturday, Musselman’s squad is almost out of time to make its case for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. However, a win against UCLA (20-10, 12-7) — which is almost certainly tournament-bound — would strengthen USC’s resume and potentially slot the Trojans as one of the last teams in the field.

“We can’t play 20 minutes or 24 minutes,” Musselman said, “We have to put 40 minutes together.”

The Trojans will try to salvage one final game against UCLA on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Galen Center.