rodney rice

LAHAINA, Hawaii — 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.

LAHAINA, Hawaii — 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.

Chad Baker-Mazara scored scored a career-high 34 points and Jordan Marsh hit a contested three-pointer at the buzzer to lift USC to a 107-106 win over Troy on Thursday night.

Troy, coming off a 108-107 double-overtime win at San Diego State on Tuesday, led throughout the third overtime but threw the ball away into the front court after rebounding Baker-Mazara’s missed drive with about 10 seconds to go. Rodney Rice got the loose ball and fired it ahead to Marsh, who took a couple of dribbles and hit from almost straightaway.

Rice had 26 points and nine assists for USC (4-0) and Ezra Ausar 22 points, which was outrebounded 63-39, including 25-7 on the offensive end.

Cooper Campbell had a career-high 32 points, 10 in the third overtime, for Troy (4-3), including a pair of his career-high six three-pointers to start the final overtime, plus 12 rebounds and eight assists. Victor Valdes had 24 points, Theo Send scored 20 points and Thomas Dowd had 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Campbell forced overtime with a three-pointer from the right wing a couple steps behind the line with 7.8 seconds to play, tying the game 68-68. Rice’s turn-around jumper from the foul line bounced off the rim as time ran out.

It was the same in overtime, but Seng made a pair of layups with less than 20 seconds to go, tying the game at 78. A long heave wasn’t close for USC.

Troy got its first lead since late in the first half when Seng opened the second overtime with a basket. Baker-Mazara scored eight points and USC was up two when Dowd put up a contested shot in the lane to tie it at 89 with 22.1 seconds to go. Baker-Mazara failed to convert a drive as time ran out.

Both teams struggled on offense in the first half, which finished tied at 29. Neither team led by more than five and there were 15 lead changes.

Up next: USC plays Boise State on Monday in the Maui Invitational.

Chad Baker-Mazara scored 20 of his career-high 26 points in the first half to lead seven USC players in double figures and start the Trojans off and running to a 114-83 victory over Manhattan on Sunday.

Baker-Mazara made seven of 13 shots, including three of four from three-point range, and all nine of his free throws to help the Trojans (2-0) score more points than they’ve had since 1998. He added seven rebounds.

Ezra Ausar scored 17 points on seven-for-10 shooting for USC and Rodney Rice pitched in with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Jacob Cofie totaled 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Terrence Williams II added 10 points and seven boards. Reserves Jaden Brownell and Jordan Marsh scored 13 and 11, respectively.

USC jumped out to a 7-2 lead before Anthony Isaac’s layup capped a 5-0 spurt for Manhattan to tie it. From there neither team had a two-possession lead until Baker-Mazara hit a three-pointer to put USC up 28-23 with 7:48 left before halftime. The Trojans sank four of their next five shots to push their advantage to double digits and upped it to 55-37 at the break.

USC led by as many as 35 in the second half and topped the century mark on a layup by Brownell with 6:16 left to play.

Junior guard Jaden Winston scored a career-high 29 to pace the Jaspers (1-1). The fifth-year senior guard made nine of 14 shots with three three-pointers while making all eight of his free throws. Terrance Jones had 18 points and fellow reserve Isaac scored 16.