USC Men's Basketball Drops Regular Season Finale To UCLA

Saturday, March 7

Los Angeles, Calif.

6 p.m.

USC

18-13,7-13Big Ten

UCLA

21-10,13-7Big Ten

UCLA

Southern California

USC Men's Basketball Drops Regular Season Finale To UCLA

March 07, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Press Conference

Alijah Arenas led the team in scoring with 20 points.

LOS ANGELES — USC Men's Basketball (18-13, 7-13 Big Ten) closed out the regular season with an 89-68 loss to crosstown rival UCLA (21-10, 13-7 Big Ten) on Saturday, March 7, inside the Galen Center.

On a night where USC honored its five seniors — Ezra Ausar, Jaden Brownell, EJ Neal, Terrance Williams II and Kam Woods — the Trojans could not get the job done in the home finale. Led by Donovan Dent once again, the Bruins' offense proved too much for the Trojans. The second game of the Crosstown Rivalry series was tied at 21 with nine minutes to go in the first half, but UCLA went on a decisive 14-2 run and didn't look back. UCLA led by as many as 25 points and connected on 50% of its field goals in both halves.

Alijah Arenas worked to rally the troops by scoring 13 of his 20 points in the second half, while Ezra Ausar recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jacob Cofie finished with 10 points, while Kam Woods tied his career-high with 11 assists to go along with six points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Energized by the home crowd, USC started hot and went 3-for-3 from the field to take a 7-2 lead. However, UCLA's Tyler Bilodeau also came ready to play, scoring 10 of the Bruins' first 15 points. UCLA went on its first of two major runs in the first half with 16:16 to go, taking a 9-7 lead off a 7-0 run. The Bruins never trailed again.

USC switched to a 2-3 zone and got a lift from Jordan Marsh and Jerry Easter II off the bench. Kam Woods tied the game at 21 with 9:18 to go, but Bilodeau — who had 16 first-half points — sparked a 14-2 UCLA run. Meanwhile, the Trojans went nearly five minutes without a field goal until Alijah Arenas snapped the scoring drought with 4:19 to play.

Trailing 45-30 at the half, Arenas tried to spark a comeback attempt by either scoring or assisting on 8 of USC's first 10 points of the half. However, Dent came alive and sparked another 14-2 UCLA run that put the visitors up 67-44 with 12:07 to play.

From that point on, UCLA maintained its 20-point lead until Arenas started a 7-0 run late in the half. But by that point, their run could only make it an 18-point game with 2:55 left. Two free throws from Terrance Williams II in the final minute capped off the 89-68 loss for USC.

NOTABLES

Alijah Arenas led the team with 20 points tonight – his fifth consecutive game in double figures and eighth time in 12 games. He also earned his career-high in made three pointers for the third time this season, making three.
With 10 points, Jacob Cofie recorded his 15th game this season in double figures.
Ezra Ausar recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. He also finished with two blocks and two steals.
Kam Woods tied his career-high with 11 assists. The last time a Trojan recorded at least 10 assists was Rodney Rice against Illinois State on Nov. 14, 2025.
Tonight marks the seventh occasion where five Trojans have recorded at least one block. The last time this happened for USC was against Indiana on Feb. 3.
This is the first time since the 2014-15 season that USC has lost seven straight games.
USC moves to 116-151 overall against UCLA, and Coach Eric Musselman has an overall record of 0-4 against the Bruins.
Tonight's starting lineup featured Alijah Arenas, Kam Woods, Ezra Ausar, Terrance Williams II and Jacob Cofie. This lineup has a 0-2 record this season.

QUOTABLES
Coach Eric Musselman on the loss…
"It was obvious they were the better team tonight. They did a great job picking apart the mismatches that they wanted. Defensively, we were not very good."

Coach Eric Musselman on preparing for the Big Ten Tournament …
"We just gotta keep teaching. We do have some young players that need to continue to learn a lot on the defensive end."

Jacob Cofie on how the team is going to build momentum for the upcoming Big Ten tournament…
"I feel like it starts in practice. We need to figure out what's working and how we can continue winning."

Jacob Cofie on how Coach Musselman has tried to pull the team out of the losing streak…
"I feel like Coach Muss in the past few weeks has been a lot more positive with us. He's encouraging me, as well as a lot of the other guys and giving us positive encouragement. I trust Coach Muss's coaching ability, so I know he has something in play for us."

Terrance Williams II on what changed in the team since January …
"We just gotta stay together. I feel like when adversity hits, sometimes we tend to go our own separate ways. We've got to just stick together. I tell the guys, it's been a long year, a long Big Ten season, and we've just got to stay together."

Terrance Williams II on his experience playing at USC these past two seasons…
"It's been a great two years, and I'm thankful for the USC family, Coach Muss, and everybody on campus for making this home. Last year didn't go as expected - I got injured. But I was the only returning player this season, and that was for a reason. I love it here. I love the program. I love USC in general. I just want to say thank you to everybody who was a part of my career here, and I had a great two years here. I can't complain. Whatever the future holds, I know that a USC degree is going to take me places in life."

UP NEXT
USC will head to Chicago to prepare for the Big Ten Tournament. The Trojans will play their first game on Wednesday. More information on the time and seeding will be provided at a later time.