LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team went into Sunday afternoon with a new opponent and a new player in the lineup, but that didn’t stop the Trojans from beating UC Santa Cruz 102-63.
The victory marked head coach Eric Musselman’s 250th career win.
Gabe Dynes scored a season-high 16 points and had an additional five rebounds and four blocks. Chad Baker-Mazara and Ezra Ausar each scored 15 points and Baker-Mazara grabbed seven boards. Jacob Cofie added 14 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.
Kam Brown, a point guard who was added at the end of the fall semester, had six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
USC added the Division III Banana Slugs to its schedule after canceling its game against Brown due to a mutual decision based on the impact of the school shooting at the Rhode Island school.
It was the perfect low-stakes environment for Woods, a Robert Morris transfer, to get back up to game speed. His last game was on March 21 against Alabama in the East Region first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Woods rounded out a depleted Trojans roster that was down three players due to injury in Alijah Arenas, Rodney Rice and Amarion Dickerson.
Woods eased his way back into playing, shooting sparingly but always ready for a rebound. He banged a 3-point attempt off the rim as the first half wound down, but Chad Baker-Mazara was there to grab the ball and slam it in for an 8-0 scoring run and a 45-26 advantage at halftime.
UC Santa Cruz, which is currently on a 16-game road trip, attacked from the perimeter early.
Seven different players attempted a shot from 3-point range and the Banana Slugs shot 50% from afar in the first half after averaging roughly 33% heading into the game.
They took a 15-14 lead on a triple by Ben Lim with 12 minutes remaining in the opening half. Still, UC Santa Cruz was unable to compete with the physicality that power forwards Ezra Ausar and Jacob Cofie brought to the paint.
The Banana Slugs scored only 14 points from that area in the game.
Gabe Dynes had one of his best games this season. The 7-foot-6 center played 22 minutes and stationed himself under the hoop, ready for any pass that came his way.
He made back-to-back dunks in the first half and, in the second half, Ausar and Jerry Easter dished out high passes that he was able to tip into the basket.
The Trojans held the Banana Slugs to 37 points in the second half on 48.1% shooting to finish off the game on a high note before heading into its most difficult road stretch of the season.
They’ll play at No. 2 Michigan on Jan. 2, at No. 9 Michigan State on Jan. 5 and at Minnesota on Jan. 9.
