February 24, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California coach Eric Musselman reacts to a foul call in the second half of the game against the UCLA Bruins at Foley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Image Southern California was mired in an untimely free fall and even sacked its leading scorer.
The Trojans will look to snap a five-game losing streak and move forward without the mercurial Chad Baker-Mazara when they face Washington in Big Ten action Wednesday night in Seattle.
If the tailspin wasn’t bad enough, USC (18-11, 7-11 Big Ten) announced Sunday that Baker-Mazara is no longer with the program.
He fell wide in the first half of Saturday’s 82-67 home loss to then-No. 12 Nebraska went to the locker room. He later limped back and sat in the stands not far from the team bench.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Baker-Mazara’s firing occurred after a season of problems. The Trojans were Baker-Mazara’s fifth team in six seasons. He was fired by San Diego State and its player-friendly coach Brian Dutcher early in his career.
USC coach Eric Musselman had not commented on Baker-Mazara’s firing as of Tuesday evening.
Baker-Mazara averaged 18.5 points per game, the highest among team qualifiers, with a team-high 61 3-pointers.
Entering the final two games of the regular season, the skid has dashed USC’s NCAA Tournament hopes. The Trojans host UCLA on Saturday.
“We’re a better road team, which is unique,” Musselman said. “We have another road game coming up so we’ll see how we play, but we didn’t play well at all here.
“We have to get ready to go to Washington. I don’t know what else to say.”
The Huskies (14-15, 6-12) are also struggling, having suffered poor performance five times in their last seven games.
Washington is coming off a 90-73 home loss to Wisconsin in a contest in which the Badgers made 17 3-pointers and the Huskies made just four.
As usual, big man Hannes Steinbach had 22 points and 11 rebounds for his 18th double-double, matching the Big Ten freshman record set by former Ohio State star Jared Sullinger (2010-11).
However, Steinbach and Zoom Diallo (21 points) did not receive much help.
Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said his team played selfishly against Wisconsin.
“If we’re going to be successful, we have to rely on each other,” Sprinkle said. “We better trust each other, otherwise the result will be the same on Wednesday night.”
Steinbach is averaging a team-high 18.2 points and 11.1 rebounds. Diallo averaged 14.9 points and a team-leading 4.3 assists per game.
Washington broke an 11-game losing streak last season with an 84-76 road win over the Trojans.
–Field level media
