USC Men's Basketball Wraps Up Regular Season Against UCLA

Saturday, March 7

Los Angeles, Calif.

6 p.m.

USC

UCLA

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Ezra Ausar looks to pass the ball against Nebraska

USC Men's Basketball Wraps Up Regular Season Against UCLA

March 06, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

This will be the second meeting between these two teams.

LOS ANGELES — USC Men's Basketball (18-12, 7-12 Big Ten) will round out the regular season with the second leg of the Battle for LA against (20-10, 12-7 Big Ten) Saturday, March 7, at the Galen Center. USC fell 81-62 in its last matchup with the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 24.

WHEREABOUTS
Game #31 vs UCLA
Saturday, March 7 at 6 p.m. PT
Galen Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: FS1

LAST TIME OUT
The Trojans' second-half woes came back to bite them in a 91-72 road loss to Washington on Wednesday. Despite leading by three points after the first, the Huskies flipped the script by outscoring the Trojans 51-29 in the second half. Washington had an edge in nearly every statistical category: Thanks to 24 rebounds from Hannes Steinbach, the Huskies outrebounded the Trojans 46-37. USC committed 12 turnovers to Washington's 11, and the Huskies connected on 48.1% of their field goals to the Trojans' 37.5% clip.

Alijah Arenas led USC with 19 points and was one of four Trojans in double figures. Ezra Ausar had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double, Jacob Cofie finished with 14 points, and Jordan Marsh chipped in 14 points off the bench.

LAST VS. THE BRUINS
On Feb. 24, the Trojans fell 81-62 in the crosstown showdown to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. USC outrebounded the Bruins 41-31, but UCLA had the upper hand from the floor, connecting on over 49% of its shots to USC's 35%. The Bruins had a nine-point lead at the break and wouldn't let up, carrying their momentum the rest of the way.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

UCLA has three ranked wins on the season, upsetting No. 9 Nebraska on Feb. 21 on Mar. 3. Trent Perry had a team-best 20 points to lift the Bruins to a 72-52 win over the Huskers, handing them their first double-digit loss of the season.
UCLA shot .467 to Nebraska's .388 on Wednesday's contest, outscoring the Huskers 26-16 in the paint.
Dent ranks third in the Big Ten with 7.5 assists per game and is sixth in the conference in steals, averaging 1.8 per game.
UCLA shoots a conference second-best .378-mark from beyond the arc. Skyy Clark is the most efficient sharpshooter, landing six three-pointers on three separate occasions this season.
Bilodeau averages a team-best 18.0 points per game. He has scored double digits in 25 of 27 contests this season and put up a career-high 34 points against UC Riverside (Dec. 12, 2025).
While the Bruins lead their opponent in most statistical categories, they lack strength on the boards, posting a -0.6 rebounding margin.
This season, UCLA is 17-1 at Pauley Pavilion this season.
Head Coach Mick Cronin is in his seventh year leading the Bruins. Before this season, Cronin held a 138-64 mark and has guided his teams to the Final Four (2021), Sweet Sixteen (2022, 2023) and NCAA Tournament Second Round (2025).

SENIOR DAY
It's the final home game of the season for the Trojans and they are honoring their four seniors – Ezra Ausar, Terrance Williams II, Kam Woods and Jaden Brownell. The team will celebrate these four prior to the start of the game.

COACHING CLASH
Saturday's game will be the fifth contest between Head Coach Eric Musselman and Mick Cronin. The first meeting between the two coaches was a memorable one: Musselman's Nevada squad came back from a 22-point deficit in the second half to knock off Cronin's Cincinnati squad 75-73 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. However, Cronin has won the last four meetings.

SHARING THE WEALTH
Over the last 30 games, USC has had nine different players lead the team in scoring. Four different Trojans have led the team in scoring over the last five games.