Big Ten counterparts Southern California and No. 12 Nebraska meet on Saturday in Los Angeles with very different but equally high stakes.
The Trojans (18-10, 7-10 Big Ten) head into the final three games of the regular season playing for their postseason lives. On a four-game losing streak following its 81-62 blowout setback at rival UCLA on Tuesday, USC enters the closing stretch limping — in some cases, literally.
Leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara (18.6 points per game) went for 25 points at UCLA, but came up gingerly and grimacing at one point in the second half. He finished the game, and there is no indication of the standout missing Saturday’s contest, but the scare encapsulated an issue plaguing USC in its pursuit of an NCAA Tournament bid.
In November the Trojans lost point guard Rodney Rice, who was averaging 20.3 points and 6.0 assists per game at the time of his shoulder injury, while highly touted freshman Alijah Arenas missed the first few months of the season.
“I haven’t really talked about it in a long time, but not having Rodney Rice’s shooting is killing us,” USC coach Eric Musselman said following Tuesday’s loss. “It kills our spacing (and) it kills all the help to the ball.”
Arenas joined the lineup in late January after recovering from an offseason knee injury, and has had both highs — running off three straight games of at least 24 points in early February — and lows, like his current three-game stretch of shooting less than 30% from the field.
Baker-Mazara has also endured a spate of injuries, including a neck issue that forced him to come off the bench in recent weeks, and a minor leg injury that sidelined him for USC’s last opportunity against a ranked opponent. That was a 101-65 loss to then-No. 10 Illinois on Feb. 18, which started an active two-game home losing streak.
Last Saturday’s 71-70 home loss to a sub-.500 Oregon team dealt USC a significant blow to its tournament aspirations, making this week’s matchup with a ranked Nebraska team of crucial importance.
The Cornhuskers (24-4, 13-4) come in for the first of two games in Los Angeles, wrapping up their road slate for the season Tuesday at UCLA. Nebraska is an NCAA Tournament lock, now playing for seeding in the upcoming Big Ten tournament and March Madness.
The Cornhuskers checked in at No. 11 in last weekend’s NCAA top-16 bracket preview, on course for a No. 3 seed. A run of four losses in six games after their 20-0 start affected their potential seeding.
But Nebraska enters on a two-game win streak, including a 74-61 win over Maryland on Wednesday that marked the Huskers’ fourth consecutive game holding an opponent to 64 points or fewer. Its current stretch of defensive dominance helped shave Nebraska’s season yield to 65.4 points per game, 16th-fewest in Division I.
Braden Frager has contributed to the defensive effort in recent outings with at least one steal in each of the last four contests. The freshman complemented his defensive play on Wednesday with a team-high 21 points and is one of four Nebraska players averaging double-digit points (12.1), alongside Pryce Sandfort (17.9), Rienk Mast (13.8) and Jamarques Lawrence (10.3).
“One thing we know, Braden is crazy talented,” teammate Sam Hoiberg said of Frager. “When he does the little things, we’re a really tough team to beat.”
