Chad Baker-Mazara posted a career high 34 points, and Jordan Marsh made a three at the buzzer to give USC a 107-106 win over Troy. Photo courtesy of USC Athletics.
Thursday’s college basketball nightcap saw USC defeat Sun Belt favorite Troy with a 107-106 that saw guard Jordan Marsh nail a three-pointer at the buzzer. Troy was poised for the win with a 106-104 lead, but Rodney Rice stole an overthrown pass on the right sideline and hit Marsh on the right. He dribbled to the middle and launched the three from the right top of the key, which ended a literal Trojan War.
“We just felt like they were going to press, and he could be a one-man press break,” said Trojans head coach Eric Musselman. “You look at his 3-point percentage thus far, and it is pretty good, but that was obviously just kind of a broken play.”
Troy guard Collin Campbell scored 10 of his 32 points in the third overtime as he started it with a pair of triples, and he hit a pair of free throws with 1:43 remaining, which gave the Troy Trojans a 103-97 lead.
Chad Baker-Mazara finished with a career high 34 points as his three-pointer cut Troy’s lead to 103-102 with 1:39 remaining. Jerrell Bellamy matched Mazara’s basket to set the stage for the last act of the scintillating drama.
“I’m glad I didn’t call a timeout,” Musselman said. “Even at the end of some of those overtimes, I thought we got looks that we wanted without calling a timeout and playing in the flow.”
Troy’s Trojans are a favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference; hence, they defeated San Diego State, 108-107 in double overtime on Tuesday.
Victor Valdes added 24 points for Troy, who outrebounded USC, 63-39, and scored 26 points off of 25 rebounds.
“There’s lessons to be learned from it,” said Troy coach Scott Cross. “There’s more to come from this basketball team.”
Baker-Mazara and Rice have turned into a dynamic scoring punch as they are USC’s top two leading scorers. Baker-Mazara had 12 points in the first half as USC struggled from the floor. He kept them tied at 29-29 as they shot only 34 percent, but defensively held Troy to 10-of-28 from the field.
Rice was able to get to the line five times in the first overtime, while Baker-Mazara scored eight points in the second extra session.