The USC Trojans’ NCAA Tournament hopes took a major hit on Saturday following their 82-67 loss to the visiting Nebraska Cornhuskers. But it wasn’t just USC’s March Madness chances that took a spill, but Chad Baker-Mazara sustained an injury that forced him to exit the game, as per Connor Morrissette of 247Sports.
Chad Baker-Mazara re-aggravated an injury to his knee early in the second half of USC’s loss to Nebraska, and did not return after leaving the game. The play occurred when he went up to block a shot. He finished with 14 points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and two blocked shots in 19 minutes of play. He shot 4-of-9 from the field, 2-of-6 from the 3-point line and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
With the loss, USC fell to 18-11 on the season, and 7-11 in Big Ten play. With only two games remaining in the regular season against Washington and UCLA, the Trojans might have to win out and have a strong showing in the Big Ten Tournament to be able to get into the Big Dance.
But Baker-Mazara’s injury is going to be something they’ll have to monitor. The fifth-year transfer from Auburn has been putting up a career season. He’s appeared in 26 games for USC, including 22 starts, at a little over 29 minutes per game.
Baker-Mazara has been averaging a career-high 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 blocked shots with splits of 44.4 percent shooting from the field, 38.1 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 89.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
He began his college basketball career at Duquesne before transferring to San Diego State for his sophomore year. He played a season of junior college basketball before committing to Auburn where he played for two seasons before joining the Trojans.
