big ten

A season of frustratingly unfortunate events for USC had led here, to this nightmarish crescendo at the one-minute mark Saturday, in a must-win matchup.

Through a roller-coaster afternoon, the Trojans had navigated one wave after another, riding several hot streaks and surviving the cold ones, knowing full well that their NCAA tournament hopes hinged on a win over Oregon, one of the Big Ten’s worst teams.

All that stress seemed to subside as USC took a six-point lead with 70 seconds remaining. Any rational onlooker would assume that the Trojans had held on for good, dispatching of the Ducks.

But then Oregon scored on a layup. It stole the ball back. And it hit a three-pointer.

USC coach Eric Musselman reacts after a play during the Trojans’ loss to Oregon Saturday at the Galen Center.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

USC clung to a one-point lead as freshman Alijah Arenas stepped back for a jumper that clanged away. Kam Woods missed a tip. Then, Oregon got the ball back and drew a foul.

Two free throws from Oregon’s Nate Bittle dealt USC one final, unbelievable blow to their Saturday — and perhaps their season — handing the Trojans a devastating 71-70 loss.

Their hopes of making the NCAA tournament aren’t necessarily dead as of Saturday. Four games still remain for the Trojans to build their case before the Big Ten tournament. But two of those come against UCLA and another against Nebraska, one of the best teams in the Big Ten this season.

USC had hoped Chad Baker-Mazara‘s return from injury would help lift them to a victory Saturday. Baker-Mazara led all scorers with 21, but he also fouled out late, during that final possession.

Arenas struggled most of the afternoon, before scoring 11 in the second half. But it was his turnover in the final seconds that ultimately handed Oregon the win

Baker-Mazara hadn’t played since the beginning of February, and in back-to-back losses to Illinois and Ohio State, the Trojans undoubtedly missed his spark. If not for a late game winner in State College from Arenas, they would’ve dropped all three games played without Baker-Mazara.

The circumstances ultimately left USC in a must-win scenario Saturday, if it hoped to continue clinging to the edge of the NCAA tournament bubble. Oregon had, on the other hand, spent most of the season in the Big Ten cellar. It entered Saturday’s matinee with losses in 11 of its last 12 games.

There was no such urgency in Baker-Mazara upon his return. The sixth-year senior sang and danced his way through warm-ups, before opening the game on a stationary bike in the corner of the arena.

But upon checking in, he jolted the Trojans offense to life with 13 straight points.

The boost Baker-Mazara provided eventually ran out of gas. USC hit just three of its final 14 shots before halftime, and Oregon stormed out in front.

The Ducks did the same in the second half, albeit in much more devastating fashion, leaving USC with a much harder road ahead.

The No. 2 UCLA women’s basketball team beat Indiana 92-48 at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. Lauren Betts picked up a first-half double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She finished with 16 points and was one of seven players to reach double figures.

“It speaks to how talented this team is,” Betts said. “We have threats at every single position, and it makes it so much easier for me to do my job, because I know that if they’re going to double, triple, I’m going to find somebody who’s able to score.”

UCLA extended its win streak to 19 games. With another lopsided victory under their belt, the Bruins said they have focused on consistency, no matter the opponent.

“I actually did bring that up in the locker room, and I should have, because that’s really been the challenge is to enjoy, relish, lean into, that we’re playing for our standard,” said coach Cori Close. “I’ve been really honest that we haven’t been doing that consistently against opponents that maybe don’t give the scoreboard, won’t give us that exact read.”

UCLA guard Kiki Rice drives to the basket under pressure from Indiana guard Nevaeh Caffey as Hoosiers forward Maya Makalusky watches at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.

(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)

UCLA’s Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 10 points in the second quarter alone and Kiki Rice, who recorded a 15-point second half after only scoring two in the first, led all Bruins in points.

“I wasn’t happy with the way I competed in the first half,” Rice said. “Regardless of the outcome offensively, I can control how hard I play. I’m proud of my defense, and in the second half I focused in on that and started to find a better rhythm.”

UCLA (25-1, 15-0 Big Ten) separated itself from Indiana (14-13, 3-12) in the second quarter with 30 points, taking a 47-20 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Bruins outscored the Hoosiers 29-14.

Maya Makalusky scored 13 points for Indiana and Lenée Beaumont added 11. They were the only Hoosiers in double figures.

Close said Angela Dugalic led the way for the Bruins in the first half, playing at the level of aggression that the coaching staff was looking for. Close added that Dugalic’s intense effort was in response to a couple of games during which Dugalic wasn’t playing to her usual standard.

“[Yesterday] we’re talking about what was leading to that,” Close said of a conversation with Dugalic. “She was like, ‘I just start second guessing when I get that first foul.’ And I was actually thankful that she had that scenario. And I just said, ‘Hey, this is what we talked about yesterday, you got to play the same way.’”

Indiana guard Lenée Beaumont drives to the basket under pressure from UCLA guards Charlisse Leger-Walker and Kiki Rice Sunday at Pauley Pavilion.

(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)

Dugalic picked up a foul in the first quarter, providing a chance to respond to adversity in a different way.

The Bruins’ four turnovers were their lowest total in a game this season after giving up the second most during a close win last week against No. 13 Michigan State. Close put the players through a special workout in between the games to reduce the giveaways.

“Not only did they have to do a bike sprint for every single turnover and every one under our passion play goal that they didn’t get, but they had to watch their lack of productivity while they did it,” Close said.

The Bruins held Indiana to 31.3% shooting from the field, below the Hoosiers’ 47.9% average on the season, fifth best in the Big Ten.

UCLA has three more games before the Big Ten tournament, with Washington up next at 7 p.m. PST on Thursday. A Bruins win or a Michigan loss would clinch the No. 1 tournament seed for UCLA.

Their frustrating midseason slump was finally in the rear-view mirror, their season finally feeling back on the right track.

Any reservations about USC righting the ship after losing six of seven had largely been forgotten on the heels of a four-game winning streak. Victories over No. 8 Iowa, Rutgers, Northwestern and Illinois, two of which came on the road, had cemented its place on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble.

But as the Trojans were reminded in a 79-73 win over Indiana at Galen Center, now is no time to get comfortable — even if Thursday’s victory had marked their longest winning streak of the season.

The Hoosiers certainly never let USC settle in, even as freshman Jazzy Davidson poured in another stat-stuffing performance that would have to carry a stagnant Trojan offense for much of the way. It would take an aggressive defensive effort, too, complete with 19 forced turnovers, to put Indiana away.

That it took such a hard-fought effort to escape a team that’s 3-11 in the Big Ten and was without the Big Ten’s leading scorer, Shay Ciezki, was not exactly reassuring, as USC (16-9 overall, 8-6 in the Big Ten) enters the final four games of their regular season slate. Two of those four are against top 10 teams, Ohio State and UCLA.

But where the Trojans might have slipped up earlier in the season, they held tight Thursday.

“We were tough where we needed to be when shots weren’t falling,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “Our confidence to get it done when it’s not always prettiest is something that we’re proud of.”

Outside of a stellar second quarter, Thursday’s win certainly would not be remembered for being aesthetically pleasing. Over the rest of the game, Trojans shot under 32% from the floor. Their issues from three-point range persisted, as they made just three of 19 from behind the arc. Over their last four games, they’ve knocked down just 11 of 68 (16%).

They wouldn’t need them Thursday, not with Davidson looking as dynamic as ever. The freshman sensation followed up a career-high, 27-point performance with 24 points, along with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. She did so while playing all 40 minutes.

“You talk about overdelivering,” Gottlieb said, “To be a freshman and carry the load for us and continue to grow, the numbers are really showing it … she’s just capable of doing almost anything on a basketball court.”

That much has been abundantly clear over the last seven games, with Davidson as she’s averaging 20 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks per night. She credited that outburst with being more comfortable down the final stretch of the season.

The Trojans will likely go as far as their dynamic freshman can take them as March approaches. But of late that’s been a pretty successful strategy.

“She’s unique,” Gottlieb said. “I know there are several good freshmen in the country. We know how good she is. We see it every day, and we think there’s no one better.”

USC didn’t look early on like a team that had found solid ground . The Trojans went six straight minutes in the first without a single field goal, then gave up an 8-0 run to Indiana in the final 1:22 of the quarter.

It was until Davidson turned it on in the second quarter that USC seized control. Fresh off her fifth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors, Davidson tallied 10 points in the second alone, while the Hoosiers had just 13 total, USC’s defense clamping down after a sloppy start.

With Indiana’s attention on Davidson, Kara Dunn and Kennedy Smith would help the Trojans fire out front, as they combined for 20 points after half. But the Hoosiers tied the score just one possession into the fourth quarter.

An elbow to the face of guard Malia Samuels gave the Trojans free throws and a seven-point lead with just four minutes remaining in the game. Still, a foul from Dunn on a corner three-pointer by Indiana’s Maya Makalusky opened the door for the Hoosiers.

Makalusky, who led all scorers with 29, hit another three to once again cut the lead to a single possession.

But USC held on, with Smith applying the punctuation mark, snagging a driving Indiana lay-in out of mid-air with just a minute remaining. It was the sort of play that reminded what USC might be capable of, with everything working in concert.

It’ll need that to be the case, if it hopes to make noise come March.

“We’re in position to do all the things we set out to do,” Gottlieb said. “We’re as good and set up as any team outside of maybe the top group to get a great seed.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Lauren Betts had 16 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and three blocks to help No. 2 UCLA hold off No. 8 Michigan for a 69-66 win on Sunday.

The Wolverines trailed by 11 points with less than two minutes left and ended the game with a chance to tie the score, Syla Swords shot an airball on a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left.

UCLA (23-1, 13-0 Big Ten) took a two-game lead over Michigan (20-4, 11-2) in the conference with its 17th straight victory since losing to No. 4 Texas in November.

The Bruins outscored Michigan by 14 over the second and third quarters and finished with their NCAA-best ninth win over an AP Top 25 team.

The Wolverines’ school-record nine-game winning streak in Big Ten games was snapped by a big and experienced team that plays stifling defense and is led by a 6-foot-7 preseason All-America center who does it all.

UCLA players wear pink basketball shoes to support Breast Cancer Awareness on Sunday.

(Lon Horwedel / Associated Press)

Betts was eight of 17 from the field, grabbed rebounds at both ends of the court, set up teammates for shots after drawing double teams and used her size to block or alter shots.

Her surrounding cast is talented, too.

UCLA’s Kiki Rice scored 20, Gabriela Jaquez had 13 and Gianna Kneepkens scored 12.

Michigan’s Olivia Olson had 20 points, Mila Holloway had 15 and Te’Yala Delfosse added 10. Swords was limited to eight points, missing 10 of 13 shots.

The highly anticipated matchup drew a season-high 6,108 crowd to Crisler Center a few hours before the Super Bowl.

The USC women’s basketball team rolled to a 71-39 win over Rutgers on Sunday at Galen Center.

The Trojans (13-9, 5-6 Big Ten) got off to a slow start, ending the first quarter trailing by three points. Rutgers (9-13, 1-10) held the lead until the 5:39 mark in the second quarter when Kara Dunn hit a pair of free throws. USC picked up its defensive pressure in the second quarter, which helped ignite its offense. The Trojans held a six-point lead at halftime and extended it during a second-half surge.

Dunn led USC with 18 points and six rebounds. Jazzy Davidson contributed 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Kennedy Smith added 11 points and four assists. Laura Williams anchored the glass with 11 rebounds and Malia Samuels finished with seven points and four rebounds.

Imani Lester scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds for Rutgers. Zachara Perkins recorded 12 points and four rebounds and Faith Blackstone added six points.

USC outscored Rutgers 23-8 in the third quarter and kept the pressure up in the fourth, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 19-8. The Trojans dominated the battle on the boards, 57-32. USC made the most of Rutgers’ 20 turnovers, scoring 21 points off the miscues.

USC will look to extend its two-game win streak at Northwestern (8-14, 2-9) at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The game will air on the Big Ten Network.