LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team outsmarted a physically imposing Washington team in the first half, but couldn’t follow up with a second half strong enough and fell to the Huskies, 84-76 on Saturday. Chad Baker-Mazara scored a team-high 21 points and pulled down six rebounds. He we nt a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Jordan Marsh added 17 points off the bench and Jerry Easter contributed 13 points. Washington’s Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III, who are both USC transfers, finished with 22 points and 16 points, respectively. A corner three by Easter, a true freshman, gave USC (8-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) a brief surge with a minute remaining in the game, but Washington built on a dominant second half and sank five free throws to finish off the game. The first half went much more smoothly for USC, which was one of 16 unbeaten teams in the NCAA prior to the game. The Trojans put together a 13-0 scoring run near the midway point of the first half to take a 16-5 lead over the Huskies (5-3, 1-1), who have a big front three in 6-foot-11 center Franck Kepnang, 6-foot-11 forward Hannes Steinbach and 6-foot-10 center Lathan Sommerville. Marsh finished off the run with a 3-pointer and was one of the Trojans’ most versatile players in the game, even though he was the shortest player out of both teams at 5-foot-11. He disrupted shots on defense while dribbling in and breaking presses to create his own opportunities — sometimes even going all the way across the court to make it happen. The Trojans were also able to draw fouls early on and made 15-of-17 free throw attempts in the first half. Chad Baker-Mazara made four of his seven shot attempts in the first half. He initially missed on a jumper with 8:32 on the clock but ran to the basket for a put-back that finished the job and got his team a 26-17 advantage. He swiftly released a 3-pointer from the corner despite being defended one-on-one and continued to be fearless despite a hard fall toward the end of the first half. Washington was shooting .419 from 3-point range heading into the game, but USC held the Huskies to 8.3% in the opening half. Jerry Easter hit a jump shot at the buzzer to close out the first half strong with a 48-30 lead. Washington was ready to change the tone of the game in the second half. The Huskies came out fast to start the frame, scoring seven straight unanswered points. Baker-Mazara hit a three to keep Washington at a distance and pull USC ahead 51-43. Bker-Mazara had a hard fall near the 14-minute mark but was able to get up on his own and walk to the free throw line, where he knocked down two shots. Aside from moments like Gabe Dynes’ alley oop — assisted by Jordan Marsh — the shots weren’t falling for the Trojans. Odd angles or rushed plays kept them from shutting the door on the Huskies, who used a 15-1 run to stay in the game. Washington hit 56% of its 3-point shots and outscored USC 54-28 in the second half. USC was without Alijah Arenas, Rodney Rice and Amarion Dickerson in the game. The team announced in a press release prior to the game that Dickerson will miss up to four months due to a right hip injury sustained in Tuesday’s win over Oregon. The Robert Morris University transfer had played in all eight games and was averaging 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game. “Amarion has been a huge part of our team so far this season,” Musselman said in the a statement from the team. “We will miss his versatility, toughness, and athleticism. Amarion is undoubtedly disappointed, but he looks forward to attacking his rehab, and we cannot wait to see him come back even stronger.” Rice remains day-to-day with a shoulder injury and Arenas is dealing with a torn meniscus, but could return to play as early as mid-January. ...read more read less