Alijah Arenas leads USC to win over Indiana, but Chad Baker-Mazara is injured

After USC leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara went down early in the second half with what appeared to be a knee injury, freshman Alijah Arenas knew what he needed to do. When Trojan starters Ezra Ausar and Jacob Cofie fouled out late in the second half, nothing changed.

USC’s game against Indiana (15-8, 6-6 Big Ten) Tuesday night at the Galen Center was close early. Arenas, who had struggled with efficiency since debuting for the Trojans in mid-January, started four of 14 from the field and one of six on three-point attempts.

During the ensuing 19 minutes, Arenas showed why he was a five-star recruit, delivering a team-high 29 points and helping the Trojans (17-6, 6-6) hang on for a 81-75 win over the Hoosiers. It was Arenas’ first double-digit scoring game of his college career.

“I made a conscious effort, against Northwestern, to start him and not bring him along slowly. I don’t regret that at all,” coach Eric Musselman said. “29 points in your fifth game in college when you haven’t played any nonconference games is pretty damn impressive.”

Musselman was especially complimentary of Arenas’ ability to get to the free-throw line — Arenas made eight of nine shots from the charity stripe and drew nine fouls, while committing none.

“We’ve started to see that [getting to the free-throw line] leads to wins,” Arenas said. “So I try the best I can to get to the line and knock them all down.”

Though Arenas’ performance was enough to hold back a late Hoosiers push, led by guard Lamar Wilkerson who scored a game-high 33 points, the Trojans lost one of their top scorers for an unknown amount of time.

After leaving the game, Baker-Mazara returned to the Trojans’ bench with ice on his knee and crutches.

Musselman said he thought Baker-Mazara likely suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament, but he won’t know for sure until the team receives MRI exam results.

USC is already without Rodney Rice, who was averaging over 20 points before sustaining a season-ending injury. Defensive specialist Amarion Dickerson is working to return from an injury. Other role players, including Jerry Easter II and Jordan Marsh, have also missed time recently.

With Baker-Mazara out with injury and Ausar and Cofie fouling out, Musselman was forced to turn to role players who had played minimal or no time earlier in the game to close out, including Marsh and Ryan Cornish.

“I’m about as proud as I can be, to think that Chad wouldn’t play the second half and those other two guys foul out and then we still found a way to win,” Musselman said. “This was a huge game. I told the team, ‘This game is not worth one game.’”

USC forward Chad Baker-Mazara goes up for a dunk in front of Indiana forward Sam Alexis Tuesday at the Galen Center. Baker-Mazara injured his knee later in the game.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

Entering the contest, the Hoosiers were hot after racking up three consecutive wins, including two in Quad 1, and were known for shooting three pointers at one of the highest rates in the country. The injury-riddled Trojans were on the NCAA tournament bubble and in need of a big home win.

While Indiana took more three-point shots, attempting 35 and making 10, a pair of second-half three-pointers from Arenas and guard Kam Woods gave USC the advantage in combined three-point shooting percentage, a key part of the win. The Trojans shot 35.3% from beyond the arc compared to Indiana’s 28.6% clip.

“We felt if they shot 29% or below from 3, we would win the game,” Musselman said. “I give them credit with their off-ball action. They’re really, really good setting flares and pin-ins.”

The Trojans also dominated on the boards, nabbing 38 rebounds, 11 offensive, as a team compared to Indiana’s 24 and seven. Center Gabe Dynes led the way for USC defensively, with seven boards to go along with three blocks off the bench.

An 18-point game from Woods and an Ausar’s 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists were also key as USC worked to offset Baker-Mazara’s absence on the offensive end.

Woods, who joined USC midway through the season from Robert Morris University, has quickly developed into a key player and leader for the Trojans. He played all but 26 seconds of Tuesday’s game, adding six rebounds and five fouls drawn to his strong point total.

“I don’t know where our season would be if we hadn’t picked up Kam when we did,” Musselman said. “Kam knows what I want. I don’t know how, because I haven’t had a lot of individual meetings with him, but he’s on the same wavelength with me.”

Next up for USC is a road trip to the Midwest, where it will face off against Penn State (10-12, 1-10) on Sunday at 9 a.m. PST before heading to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State (14-7, 6-5).