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, shooting 15 for 19 from the free-throw line, and Baker-Mazara scored 18 for the unbeaten Trojans (6-0).
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-pointer finishing a 10-0 run and putting the Trojans ahead 63-57 with 12 minutes to go.
Staton-McCray tied the score on a 3-pointer with a minute to go but Baker-Mazara put the Trojans up for good with two free throws with 27.4 seconds left. Baker-Mazzara then stole the ball on Seton Hall’s ensuing possession before Jordan Marsh then made one of two free-throw attempts for an 81-78 lead with 13 seconds left.
The Trojans fouled rather than allowing Seton Hall to attempt a potential tying 3-pointer, with Williams draining both free throws with six seconds to go. Marsh sank two foul shots at the other end with 1.4 seconds left and USC opted to foul again and Seton Hall’s Elijah Fisher added a free throw for the final point.
Adam Clark scored 18 points, AJ Staton-McCray 17, Mike Williams III had 13 and Fisher added 10 for the Pirates (6-1).
Seton Hall created 10 turnovers, including eight steals, to build a first-half lead. The Pirates led 32-19 lead with about six minutes left in the first half. Rice scored 13 straight points, including a trio of 3-pointers, to kick off a 17-8 USC run with Jerry Easter II finishing it with a floater at the buzzer to trail 42-38.
USC finished with a 31-12 advantage in scoring from the free-throw line but was hurt by 16 turnovers, negating some of the impact of a 35-21 rebounding advantage.
USC will face either Arizona State or Washington State in the championship game on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. PT. (ESPN). Seton Hall will face the loser in the third-place game.
USC improved to 4-4 all-time in the Maui Invitational. The Trojans have never won the tournament.
More to come on this story.