LOS ANGELES — Ryan Cornish had a breakout performance for the USC men’s basketball team on Wednesday night and scored a season-high 18 points to help the Trojans beat UTSA, 97-70.
The Dartmouth transfer started his third straight game since working his way into the starting lineup on Dec. 9 against San Diego State and shot 60% from the field on Wednesday.
Ezra Ausar scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara had 20 points and five assists, and Jacob Cofie added 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
The Trojans (11-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) closed the first half on a 13-0 scoring run to head into the break with a 40-31 advantage.
Ausar tied the score at 31-all on a jump shot and was nearly unbeatable in the paint throughout the evening against a UTSA defense that consistently closed in on him.
The 6-foot-9 senior forward was averaging 16.8 points heading into the game.
Cornish missed a 3-point attempt, but Baker-Mazara tipped it in to finish a series of well-orchestrated perimeter passes give USC a 35-31 lead. Jordan Marsh added a 3-pointer and a layup to complete the scoring run as the final 27 seconds wound down.
UTSA (4-7 overall) shot at a high frequency and was aggressive from behind the arc. The Roadrunners made 5 of 19 attempts from long range in the opening half and made all six of their free throws to stay in the game.
The Trojans made 50% of their shots overall in the first half.
USC’s confidence grew as its lead did in the second half. The Trojans fearlessly released the ball at the buzzer and grabbed the offensive rebound when the shots didn’t fall to keep the ball away from the Roadrunners.
Marsh made a cross-court layup to open a 56-42 lead with 14:23 left in the game. Two minutes later, he used his speed again to steal a loose ball and charge toward the net. He missed on a jump shot but Baker-Mazara was there once again to finish the job.
The Trojans outscored UTSA 57-39 in the second half and outrebounded the Roadrunners and forced them to turn over the ball 17 times in the game.
USC continues to play without Alijah Arenas, Rodney Rice and Amarion Dickerson, who are all dealing with injuries. The team announced 30 minutes before Wednesday’s game that Rice will miss the remainder of the season.
The 6-5 junior guard suffered a right shoulder injury against Seton Hall on Nov. 25 that will require surgery.
“We will miss his energy on the court, but know his leadership will still be crucial to our team’s success,” head coach Eric Musselman said in a statement. “We look forward to watching him attack his rehab and come back even stronger.”
Rice averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds in the six games that he played (all starts) this season and recorded a triple-double against Illinois State on Nov. 14 with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
USC was originally scheduled to face Brown on Sunday afternoon, but the two teams mutually agreed to cancel the game due to the impact of the campus shooting on Brown’s campus.
The Trojans will instead play UC Santa Cruz on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Galen Center.
