Before Sunday’s game against Washington State, USC coach Eric Musselman told Jacob Cofie to be aggressive and look for his shot.
The 6-foot-10 sophomore forward did what he was told, scoring his team’s first four baskets and finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Trojans’ 68-61 nonconference victory at Galen Center.
The Trojans led by as many as 16 points in the first half but were ahead by only three with five minutes remaining before outscoring the Cougars 13-9 down the stretch to notch their second straight win and improve to 10-1.
“We needed more from him in the Washington and San Diego games, so we needed him to bounce back,” Musselman said of Cofie, who has started every game. “We made a conscious effort to go to him. He was much more aggressive at the rim and was great on the glass.”
Chad Baker-Mazara added 19 points, six rebounds and five assists and blocked a layup with 1:15 left that kept USC ahead by five and allowed Cofie and Ezra Ausar to ice the game at the foul line.
Ausar had 13 points and made nine of 11 free throws.
“It starts on defense and the offense will come,” said Cofie, who dunked on the Trojans’ first possession and netted 14 of his team’s first 26 points. “I want to be the best player I can be. I played as hard as I could.”
The Trojans are off to their best start since 2021-22 when they won their first 13 games under previous coach Andy Enfield, and Musselman couldn’t help thinking how good the Trojans would be once they’re at full strength.
“If 100% healthy, I’d expect us to be 11-0,” he said. “We’d be as good as any of my Arkansas teams. Given all our injuries, I’m amazed we’re 10-1. I’m pleasantly surprised by our record … but we’ve got to play a lot better to have success in the Big Ten.”
Rihards Vavers scored 13 points to lead the Cougars (3-8), who used a 9-0 run to pull within seven by halftime, 33-26.
It was the first meeting between the former Pac-12 rivals since the Cougars prevailed 75-72 in Pullman, Wash., on Feb. 29, 2024. USC moved to the Big Ten last season and Washington State moved to the West Coast Conference. USC leads the all-time series, 82-50.
“This was great for Jacob moving forward … we need him, Ezra and Chad to play an ‘A’ game in the Big Ten,” Musselman said. “If we can win Wednesday [against Texas San Antonio] and Sunday [against Brown], we’ll be in a good position. I would hope we’re ranked again tomorrow. We were just outside the Top 25 and we won two games this week.”
Ausar is taking it one game at a time.
“We want to beat every opponent we play, and when you do that you build your resume and gain respect from other teams,” Ausar said after logging a team-high 37:42 of floor time. “We’ve had one bad half [against Washington] when we got real complacent and comfortable, but we learned from it and it’s all about building team chemistry.”
USC led the entire way against Washington State but was unable to pull away. Jordan Marsh had eight points and five assists and Jaden Brownell added six points off the bench. Terrance Williams played 20 minutes, making one free throw and grabbing two rebounds.
Upon scoring 31 points against San Diego on Tuesday, Baker-Mazara became the first Trojan to score more than 20 points in four consecutive games since Byron Wesley did so from Dec. 22, 2013, to Jan. 9, 2014. Through 10 games he was one of three players nationwide with at least six 20-point games and two 30-point games.
“Chad’s been bothered by a hamstring [injury] for two weeks,” Musselman said. “He was on the bike in the tunnel, but he blocked a big shot at the end. Terrance [Williams] gave us valuable minutes. We were struggling to score and he’s one of our better defenders.”
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