USC comes away with win after back and forth slug with Wisconsin

MADISON -- USC Men's basketball needed a restart after a frustrating home loss to Northwestern last time out, and the Trojans' 73-71 win against the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday afternoon was nothing short of a much-needed refresher. 

Chad Baker-Mazara, who leads USC in scoring average, spearheaded the offense once more with a 29-point performance at the Kohl Center. On just 10-22 shots, Baker-Mazara's shooting from beyond the line was the best it's been for quite some time, as he drained five threes. 

Jacob Cofie showed up once more on the defensive glass, and with his 11 rebounds, he became the first Trojan since Isaiah Mobley in 2021-22 to post three straight games with 10-plus rebounds. 

USC shot significantly better throughout this game on a more consistent pace compared to their previous road games. But that did not deter the Badgers from keeping up with the Trojans pace as their spurts of offensive runs looked to be too much for USC's defense. 

Despite Wisconsin going on an early 17-2 run in the first half, the Trojans mustered up a 16-2 run in the second half to set them back on course.

The likes of Baker-Mazara decided to show up in the second half after the Badgers ended the first half with a 41-39 lead. Baker-Mazara had 16 second-half points and was backed up by Ezra Ausar's 9 second-half points. 

Wisconsin's leading scorer, Nick Boyd, had a performance that rivaled Baker-Mazara's, as he too had 29 points and 6 rebounds. Boyd's impressive day on the court was not enough, as the rest of the Badgers' offense could not budge with the team shooting just 25% in the second half. 

With this win, the Trojans improve to 15-5 and have a date with the Iowa Hawkeyes before coming back home to Southern California to play the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.