LAHAINA, Hawaii — Tournament MVP 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 at Lahaina Civic Center.
Baker-Mazara became the first player to ever win the tournament title twice after scoring 14 points in Auburn’s 90-76 victory over Memphis last season. Baker-Mazara shot 9 for 16 from the field (and 4 for 9 from 3-point range) against ASU on a day when the Trojans (7-0) shot 59.6% overall (9 for 23 from behind the arc).
USC took the first double-digit lead of the game at 77-66 with 5:14 remaining on consecutive baskets 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 3-pointer for an 86-71 lead, giving the Trojans a comfortable cushion after That turned out to be comfortable margin for a USC team that had won its previous three games by a combined total of six points.
Ausar, coming off a 25-point performance in the semifinals, finished with 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting for USC, which was without leading scorer Rodney Rice, who suffered a shoulder injury early in the second half on Tuesday. Jacob Cofie had 11 points, a team-best eight rebounds and three blocked shots, and Marsh added nine points.
USC ended up with a 32-21 advantage on the boards.
Maurice Odum scored 17 points and Anthony Johnson added 15 off the bench for ASU (6-2). Santiago Trouet and Massamba Diop each scored 13. The Sun Devils trailed by double-digits in all three tournament games.
ASU shot 42.3% from the field, including 8 for 25 from behind the arc. So even though the Sun Devils went 23 for 27 on free throws – and outscored USC by a dozen points from the foul line – the overall shooting snags were too much to overcome.
The score was tied at 43-43 at halftime. Baker-Mazara scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
UP NEXT
USC hosts Oregon in its Big Ten opener next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
More to come on this story.