WESTWOOD – There are losses that sting, and then there are losses that linger. Tuesday night inside Pauley Pavilion felt like the latter for USC Trojans.
With their postseason already teetering, USC walked into rival territory needing urgency, execution and maybe a little desperation. Instead, it walked out with an 81-62 loss to UCLA Bruins — its fourth straight defeat at the most unforgiving time of the season.
The Trojans are now 18-10 overall and 7-10 in Big Ten play. Their NCAA tournament hopes aren’t mathematically gone, but they’re fading fast, slipping further away with each second-half defensive lapse and each empty offensive possession.
Dent Delivers the Dagger
If there was any doubt about who controlled this game, Donovan Dent erased it quickly. Dent entered the night averaging 13.3 points per game. He left it with 30.
The Bruins guard torched USC for 26 points by midway through the second half, ultimately finishing with 30 points and seven assists while shooting a blistering 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Every time the Trojans hinted at momentum, Dent answered — with a transition three, a hesitation drive, or a kick-out that led to another back-breaking bucket.
With seven minutes remaining, UCLA stretched its lead to 13, its largest of the night. Control never wavered. The Bruins shot 49% from the field overall and a staggering 60% in the second half, carving up a USC defense that has now struggled to get stops after halftime in four straight losses.
The story has become painfully familiar.
Arenas Never Finds Rhythm
For USC, the spotlight naturally turns to Alijah Arenas. The freshman didn’t record his first field goal until the 8:59 mark of the second half. By then, UCLA had long established a double-digit cushion.
Arenas played nine minutes in the first half, scoring four points — all from the free-throw line — while attempting just one shot. UCLA’s defensive game plan was clear: force him away from the ball, crowd his space, and make someone else initiate offense.
It worked.
Arenas finished with 10 points in 21 minutes on 2-of-8 shooting. For a USC team searching for reliable perimeter creation, going nearly 30 minutes without a field goal from one of its primary scorers proved crippling.
The Trojans needed more. They didn’t get it.
Turnovers and Tempo
Turnovers set the tone early.
USC committed 10 in the first half alone, compared to just three for UCLA. Many of them weren’t forced by highlight-reel defense — they were live-ball mistakes, the kind that fuel transition runs and ignite Pauley Pavilion.
To the Trojans’ credit, they cleaned it up after halftime, committing just four second-half turnovers. But UCLA was even steadier, coughing it up only twice in the final 20 minutes. That ball security allowed the Bruins to dictate pace and maintain their cushion.
Eight steals for UCLA underscored the difference in defensive sharpness.
Baker-Mazara’s Lone Spark
If there was a consistent pulse for USC, it came from Chad Baker-Mazara.
Baker-Mazara poured in 25 points, providing the only sustained offensive spark for the Trojans. He got off to a hot start in the first half and never really cooled, adding 11 more points in the second. Without him, this game may have unraveled even earlier.
Kam Woods added nine points, five rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes, while Jacob Cofie struggled offensively, finishing with three points on 1-of-7 shooting despite contributing two blocks.
As a team, USC shot just 35% from the field. It wasn’t efficient enough offensively, and it certainly wasn’t sturdy enough defensively.
In his second season leading the Trojans, Eric Musselman is now 0-2 at Pauley Pavilion.
More concerning than the venue, though, is the timing. March is approaching, and USC is trending the wrong direction. The Trojans have now lost four straight, and the issues — second-half defense, scoring droughts, turnovers in key stretches — are repeating.
There’s little time to dwell.
USC returns home to the Galen Center to face No. 12-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon. It’s another opportunity — and perhaps the last clear chance to steady a season that is slipping through their fingers. At 18-10 and 7-10 in conference play, the margin for error is gone.