Maui

Chad Baker-Mazara leads USC to Maui Invitational title

Chad Baker-Mazara scored 23 points, Jaden Brownell added 16 points, and USC claimed the Maui Invitational championship with an 88-75 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday.

Baker-Mazara won the tournament championship for the second consecutive year after scoring 14 points in Auburn’s 90-76 victory over Memphis last season. Baker-Mazara made nine of 16 shots from the field against Arizona State with four three-pointers.

USC took the first double-digit lead of the game at 77-66 with 5:14 remaining on a basket by Ezra Ausar. The Trojans drew an offensive foul under the ASU basket and Jordan Marsh sank a jumper from the free-throw line to make it 81-69.

Marsh sealed it with a long three-pointer for an 86-71 lead.

Ausar, coming off a 25-point performance in the semifinals, finished with 14 points for USC (7-0), which was without leading scorer Rodney Rice. Jacob Cofie had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and Marsh added nine points.

Maurice Odum scored 17 points and Anthony Johnson added 15 for Arizona State (6-2). Santiago Trouet and Massamba Diop each scored 13. The Sun Devils trailed by double-digits in all three tournament games.

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Rodney Rice is injured as USC rallies to beat Seton Hall in Maui Invitational

Ezra Ausar and Chad Baker-Mazara combined for 31 of USC’s second-half points to rally the Trojans to an 83-81 victory over Seton Hall on Tuesday after losing leading scorer Rodney Rice to an injury in a Maui Invitational semifinal.

Ausur finished with a season-high 25 points, hitting 15 of 19 free throws, and Baker-Mazara scored 18 for the Trojans (6-0).

Adam Clark scored 18 points, AJ Staton-McCray 17, Mike Williams III 13 and Elijah Fisher 10 for the Pirates (6-1).

Rice brought the Trojans back from a 13-point deficit to get them within four at halftime, scoring 13 points, but left early in the second half with an apparent upper arm/shoulder injury and trailing 46-44. Baker-Mazara stepped up, scoring 12 points over the next five minutes with his 3 finishing a 10-0 run and putting the Trojans ahead 63-57 with 12 minutes to go.

Staton-McCray tied the game on a three-pointer with a minute to go but Baker-Mazara put the Trojans up for good with two free throws with 27.4 seconds left. The teams traded three free throws with Jordan Marsh’s pair sealing it with 1.4 remaining.

Seton Hall turned 10 turnovers, including eight steals, to build a first-half lead. Rice scored 13 straight points, including a trio of threes, to kick off a 17-8 run with Jerry Easter II finishing it with a floater at the buzzer to trail 42-38.

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Rodney Rice powers USC to win over Boise State at Maui Invitational

Rodney Rice scored a season-high 27 points and Chad Baker-Mazara had 11 points and eight rebounds as USC beat Boise State 70-67 on Monday in the Southwest Maui Invitational.

USC (5-0) will play on Tuesday against Seton Hall, which beat North Carolina State earlier.

Rice split two defenders at the top of the key to get into the paint for a runner while being fouled with 14.8 seconds left in the game. He made the basket and free throw to give USC the lead at 68-65.

After the teams traded free throws, Boise State inbounded it with 4.2 seconds left and quickly got down the court for Javan Buchanan’s good look from three-point range that came up just short at the buzzer.

Rice made four of USC’s 11 three-pointers, while Boise State went five for 25.

Buchanan led Boise State (4-2) with 18 points. Pearson Carmichael added 14 points and Aginaldo Neto 10.

Boise State trailed for 25-plus minutes, with its last lead at 59-58 at 2:57.

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