Chad Baker-Mazar’s injury makes USC’s collapse even worse
The The USC Trojans’ NCAA Tournament hopes took a big hit on Saturday following their 82-67 loss to the visiting Nebraska Cornhuskers. But not only did USC’s March Madness chances fall through, but Chad Baker-Mazzara suffered an injury that forced him to exit the gameaccording to Connor Morrissette of 247Sports.
Chad Baker-Mazara re-aggravated his knee injury early in the second half of USC’s loss to Nebraska, and did not return after leaving the game. The play happened when he went to block a shot. In 19 minutes of play, he finished with 14 points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and two blocks. He shot 4-of-9 from the field, 2-of-6 from the 3-point line and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
With the loss, USC fell to 18-11 on the season and 7-11 in Big Ten play. With just two games remaining in the regular season against Washington and UCLA, the Trojans may need to win out and have a strong showing in the Big Ten Tournament to make it to the Big Dance.
But Baker-Mazara’s injury will be something they will have to monitor. The five-year transfer from Auburn is coming off a career season. He appeared in 26 games for USC, including 22 starts, logging just over 29 minutes per game.
Baker-Mazzara is averaging a career-high 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 blocks on 44.4 percent shooting from the field, 38.1 percent from the 3-point line and 89.5 percent from the free throw line.
He began his college basketball career at Duquesne before transferring to San Diego State for his sophomore year. He played a season of junior college basketball before going to Auburn where he played two seasons before joining the Trojans.
2026-03-01 17:26:00
