No. 24 USC Men's Basketball Faces Washington In Big Ten Home Opener

Saturday, December 6

Los Angeles, Calif.

3 p.m.

USC

Washington

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No. 24 USC Men's Basketball Faces Washington In Big Ten Home Opener

December 05, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

The Trojans are coming off a conference win over Oregon.

LOS ANGELES – No. 24 USC Men's Basketball (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will play its first Big Ten game of the season inside Galen Center as the Trojans look to Black Out the Washington Huskies (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday, Dec. 6. USC is currently 83-75 against Washington.

WHEREABOUTS
Game #9 vs Washington
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025
Galen Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: Big Ten Network

LAST TIME OUT
USC bested the Oregon Ducks 82-77 in its conference opener on Dec. 2. Behind a 25-point performance from Chad Baker-Mazara, the Trojans completed a comeback with additional firepower from Jacob Cofie (17 points) and Ezra Ausar (13 points).

While the score flipped back and forth in the second half, USC's hot hand from the three-point line gave it the edge over Oregon. Jaden Brownell supplied a burst off the bench with three triples. The Trojans kept control over the last few possessions of the game, pulling down four offensive boards late in the course and nailing four free throws to leave Eugene with their first conference win of the season.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES

Washington enters Saturday's game 5-3 (.625) overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
The Huskies dropped their first conference game against UCLA 82-80. In the loss, forward Hannes Steinbach scored a season-high 29 points and pulled down 10 boards. Sophomore guard Zoom Diallo recorded 19 points and four assists.
The Huskies put up over 82 points per game, led by Steinbach, who averages a double-double in 17.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.
Steinbach is joined by four other Huskies – Wesley Yates III, Zoom Diallo, Quimari Peterson and Desmond Claude in double-figure scoring.
Six-foot-eleven center Franck Kepnang is 13th nationally in blocks per game (2.57).
Washington is coached by Danny Sprinkle, who is in his second season in Seattle. In Sprinkle's first campaign, the Huskies finished 13-18 (.419) overall and 4-16 (.200) in the Big Ten (18th).
The Huskies see seven transfers and five freshman recruits, returning two players from last year's squad.

AUSAR IS BORN
Ezra Ausar has been a crucial player for the Trojans this season, especially in the second half. Over the first eight games, Ausar has only contributed more than five points in the first half one time, putting up an average 3.5 points in the first half. However, when comparing that to the second half, he is averaging 12.5 points. In all but two games this season, he scored double-digit points in the second half.

MILESTONE ALERT
Head Coach Eric Musselman is close to hitting another milestone in his career as he is just four wins away from his 250th career win. He boasts a winning percentage of .689 in his 11 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

WHISTLE WARRIORS
USC has been great at drawing fouls so far this season. They are drawing an average of 22.8 fouls per 40 minutes, which is in the 99th percentile according to CBB Analytics. They are also executing at the free-throw line as they are fourth in the NCAA in made free throws per game (22.4).