USC Men's Basketball Wins Triple Overtime Thriller Over Troy

Thursday, November 20

Los Angeles, Calif.

7 p.m.

USC

4-0,0-0Big Ten

107

106

Troy

4-3,0-0Sun Belt

OT 1

OT 2

OT 3

Troy

106

Southern California

107

Jordan Marsh makes a buzzer beater for USC to win in triple overtime over Troy

USC Men's Basketball Wins Triple Overtime Thriller Over Troy

November 21, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Press Conference Highlights

Jordan Marsh makes a buzzer beater for USC to win 107-106.

LOS ANGELES – USC Men's Basketball (4-0) came out of the Galen Center with a thrilling triple overtime win against the Troy Trojans (4-3) on Thursday, Nov. 20. This is the first triple overtime win in USC's history.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Troy struck first, but with the help of a dunk from senior forward Ezra Ausar, Southern California hung close to its opponent. Through the first 10 minutes, USC remained two points behind the opponent. Graduate student Chad Baker-Mazara and junior guard Rodney Rice served as the primary offensive weapons for USC, as they went shot-for-shot with the Troy Trojans. It wasn't until junior guard Jordan Marsh sank a 3-pointer that USC gained its biggest lead of the first half, sitting five points ahead of Troy with less than two minutes to go. The visitors weren't going to have it as they rallied back from the five-point deficit while preventing USC from scoring, resulting in a 29-29 tie heading into the half.

USC returned to the court and capitalized on its first possession of the second half with a deep three from Rice. Ausar followed that up quickly by scoring the next eight points. Troy answered quickly by holding USC scoreless for the next two minutes as they closed the gap and tied the score yet again. It took Ausar and freshman guard Jerry Easter II to shut that down, making back-to-back layups to reclaim the 45-41 advantage. USC expanded on that lead, going up by as many as 11 points with 10 minutes to go. This is when Troy regrouped, keeping it close for the remainder of the half. It was so close that Troy knocked down a three with eight seconds left, which sent this game into overtime.

Senior Amarion Dickerson set the tone for the first overtime, knocking down a deep three in the opening minute while Baker-Mazara and Rice kept USC in front by making all four of their free throws. After the teams traded buckets down the stretch, Troy capitalized on a missed layup to force a second overtime with the score tied at 78-78.

Baker-Mazara went off during this stretch, hitting three-straight jumpers to put USC up 88-85 with 1:30 remaining. Troy battled back yet again to tie the game at 89-89.

Since two overtime periods weren't enough, USC went into a third overtime for the first time since Jan. 29, 2015. The Cardinal and Gold started this five-minute period with a tip-in from Ausar, but Troy responded quickly, going on a five-point run to take the early lead. With two minutes left, USC needed to fight back. And that's what they did. They got themselves within two with just eight seconds left. This is when Rice forced a steal and gave the ball to Marsh. With just a second on the clock, Marsh went for the 3-pointer that ultimately swished through the net and gave USC the 107-106 win over Troy.

NOTABLES

Chad Baker-Mazara had a record night in the Galen Center, earning new career-highs in points (34), blocks (5) and rebounds (9). A USC player hasn't finished with 34 points since Jan. 3, 2008, when O.J. Mayo scored 34 points against Cal.
Rodney Rice had another stellar performance for USC as he contributed a season-high 26 points to go along with nine assists and three steals. He recorded his 100th career 3-pointer during tonight's game. Rice also tallied 11 points in the first half alone, marking the third time in USC's four games that he has reached double figures before halftime.
Ezra Ausar reached 22 points in tonight's game, with 20 of those points coming from the second half and overtime periods. He also shot at a .727 clip from the field.
Jerry Easter II shined on defense as he was second on the team in rebounds (8) and blocks (4). He also knocked down his first 3-pointer as a Trojan and finished the game with seven points.
This was USC's first overtime game of the season, and the program's first triple-overtime win. The Trojans only played one other triple overtime game, and that resulted in a loss to Colorado on Jan. 29, 2015.
USC took down Troy with a score of 107-106. The last time USC won a game while allowing its opponent to score 100 points was in a 103-101 quadruple overtime win over Arizona on Jan. 9, 2016.
Amarion Dickerson made his first start as a Trojan. USC's other starters were Rodney Rice, Chad Baker-Mazara, Ezra Ausar, and Jacob Cofie. This lineup is now 1-0 on the season.
With this victory, USC improves to 2-0 all-time against Troy. Coach Musselman is now 2-0 in his career against Troy.

QUOTABLES:
Head Coach Eric Musselman on the last-second shot from Jordan Marsh…
"We just felt like they were going to press, and he can kind of be a one-man press break. You look at his 3-point percentage thus far, and it is pretty good. But that was obviously just kind of a broken play. I'm glad I didn't call a timeout. 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."

Head Coach Eric Musselman on the Maui Invitational next week…
"I've coached in Maui. It's an intense environment. Games will be sold out, it's loud, it's in a compact, unique arena, and you've got to be able to play through high-pressure situations because of the TV network that covers it. It's not going to be hard to find this game. You're going to know what station we're on, and we've got to be ready to step up to the challenge."

Chad Baker-Mazara on his parents surprising him at today's game…
"It was extremely special. My family surprised me, and they had just come from the DR. So it was really exciting, you know, being able to see them here. And it's funny because my big brother and I were talking about how I've been in college for a long time and I've never had a 30 ball, so this is really exciting, being able to accomplish that with my family."

Jordan Marsh on what was going through his mind when he put up the game-winning shot…
"When I was shooting the ball, I thought, dang, it's over with. I thought he was going to tip it, or I was going to hit the backboard. But God came through, and I'm just thankful we got the win."

UP NEXT
USC will travel to Maui, Hawai'i, to compete in the Southwest Maui Invitational. In the first round, the Trojans will play the Boise State Broncos at Lahaina Civic Center on Monday, Nov. 24. Tip-off will be at 2 p.m. PT on ESPN 2. There will also be a radio stream through the USC Game Day app. The winner of this game will move on to play the winner of Seton Hall and NC State on Tuesday, Nov. 25.