LOS ANGELES — Jordan Marsh made a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer as the USC men’s basketball team outlasted Troy, 107-106, in triple-overtime on Thursday night at the Galen Center.
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 Chad 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 the game-winner from almost straightaway.
Baker-Mazara led USC with a career-high 34 points to go with nine rebounds and three blocked shots in a game that lasted more than 3 hours. Rice added 26 points and nine assists and Ezra Ausar scored 22 points for USC, which was outrebounded 63-39, including 25-7 on the offensive end.
USC has now started 4-0 in both of head coach Eric Musselman’s first two seasons with the team.
Baker-Mazara missed his only free throw of the game with 15 seconds left in regulation, then Troy’s Cooper Campbell drained a 3-pointer from the right wing a couple of steps behind the line with 7.8 seconds remaining, tying the score at 68. Rice’s turn-around jumper from the foul line bounced off the rim as time ran out.
Troy again made a timely shot to send the game to double overtime when Theo Seng made a layup to tie the score at 78-all with five seconds left. A long heave wasn’t close for USC.
USC was unable to separate itself enough in the second 5-minute bonus period, and the game moved to triple overtime.
Campbell made a pair of 3-pointers at the start of the third overtime as Troy took a 103-97 before USC began its comeback. Baker-Mazara hit a 3-pointer and Rice made a layup to set the stage for Marsh’s game-winning shot.
Campbell had a career-high 32 points – 10 in the third overtime – for Troy (4-3), including a pair of his career-high six 3-pointers to start the final overtime, plus 12 rebounds and eight assists. Victor Valdes had 24 points, Theo Send added 20 and Thomas Dowd finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
USC looked poised for a win when it started the second half on a 6-0 scoring run that was punctuated by an Ausar layup and dunk. Amarion Dickerson dished the assist for the dunk, epitomizing the turnaround from the slow start and two personal fouls he had at the beginning of the game.
Troy moved to the perimeter and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the score at 41-all with 13:51 left.
USC answered with an 8-0 scoring run. Baker-Mazara hit a 3-pointer and Dickerson added a dunk shortly after the run was broken to give the hosts a 54-43 lead.
USC shot 52.2% in the second half and had six blocks. Musselman’s team also forced Troy to commit a shot clock violation with six minutes left in regulation.
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.
Troy outrebounded USC 24-14 in the first 20 minutes, contributing to its 11 second-chance points. The visitors scored 14 points in the paint in the opening half.
The Monterrey, Mexico-born Valdes scored 11 points in the first half for Troy, which was playing its first Power Four conference opponent of the season. Valdes ended the night with a game-high 20 points.
Baker-Mazara made all five free throws in the opening half and was a key piece of a 6-0 USC scoring run. The 6-foot-7 forward made a layup, then got a shot off just before falling to the ground and drawing a foul.
He made the and-one basket after to pull USC ahead 26-24. Marsh extended that lead with his fourth 3-pointer of the season.
Troy used a jump shot from Valdes and three free throws to tie the score just before halftime.
USC next heads to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. The Trojans’ first game is on Monday against Boise State. Other teams in the eight-team tournament include Seton Hall, No. 25 North Carolina State, Washington State, Arizona State, Texas and Chaminade.
More to come on this story.