USC Men's Basketball Faces Northwestern In The Galen Center

Wednesday, January 21

Los Angeles, Calif.

8 p.m.

USC

Northwestern

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USC Men's Basketball huddle against Purdue

USC Men's Basketball Faces Northwestern In The Galen Center

January 20, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

The Trojans will host the Wildcats in Los Angeles for the first time since 1999.

LOS ANGELES — USC Men's Basketball (14-4, 3-4 Big Ten) will wrap up its homestead against the Northwestern Wildcats (8-10, 0-7 Big Ten) at Galen Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

USC leads the all-time series 6-4 over Northwestern, but the Wildcats have won the last two meetings. Wednesday night will be the first meeting between the two teams in Los Angeles since 1999.

WHEREABOUTS
Game #18 vs. Northwestern
Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.
Galen Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: Big Ten Network

LAST TIME OUT
The Trojans fell short 69-64 to No. 5 Purdue on Saturday, Jan. 17. USC used a 16-0 run to take an early 22-8 lead with contributions from all five players on the court. The Trojans shot 51.7% from the field in the first half and had solid performances on both ends of the court.

The Boilermakers would find their footing just before the break, and the second half featured a back-and-forth battle of physicality and defensive pressure. It was a one-possession game throughout the second half, but USC was outscored 12-4 in the final three minutes and let go of the lead to drop 69-64.

Chad Baker-Mazara scored a team-high 15 points, while Jacob Cofie finished with his seventh career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS

Senior forward Nick Martinelli is the player to watch on Wednesday, working all ends of the court. This is his second year leading the Big Ten in scoring (23.7 ppg) and in made field goals per game (8.2). He ranks second nationally with 14 games scoring 20 or more points.
Martinelli is also Northwestern's top rebounder, pulling down 6.8 boards per game.
Forward Arrinten Page and guard Jayden Reid join Martinelli in double-figure scoring with 12.8 and 11.6 points per game, respectively. Page leads the team with 1.4 blocks per game, while Reid dishes out 5.4 assists per game.
Northwestern enters Wednesday's game on a five-game losing streak and is one of two teams looking for its first Big Ten win.
Most recently, the 'Cats fell 77-58 to undefeated No. 8 Nebraska on Jan. 17. In the loss, Martinelli recorded his third double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Northwestern only averages 8.5 turnovers a game, which is the best mark in the conference.
Martinelli — who owns the school's single-season scoring record — is the only returning starter from last year's squad. The Wildcats returned six players and saw eight newcomers, including three recruits from the transfer portal.
Coach Chris Collins was named the 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year after taking Northwestern to a second-place B1G finish. He has led the program since 2013 and has brought the 'Cats to their only three NCAA postseason appearances (2017, 2023, 2024).

SHARING THE WEALTH
Over the course of 18 games, USC has had seven different players lead the team in scoring. Chad Baker-Mazara leads the charge, leading the team on eight different occasions. Ausar comes in second in this category, leading the scoring three times.

DISHING IT OUT
USC has been great about sharing the basketball this season. They boast a two-point assist percentage of 51.6%, which ranks in the 95th percentile according to CBB Analytics. They also dish the ball out at the rim, assisting on 61.1% of those shots, which is in the 98th percentile according to CBB Analytics.