USC men handed another lopsided loss by No. 12 Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — It’s arguably the toughest road trip in the nation for a reason, and USC found out why.

Coen Carr scored 18 points and Jaxon Kohler added 16 on perfect shooting as 12th-ranked Michigan State handed the USC men’s basketball team its second straight blowout loss, 80-51, on Monday night.

Jeremy Fears Jr. had 15 points and seven assists for the Spartans (13-2 overall, 3-1 Big Ten), who took control with a 27-6 run early in the game and led by at least 20 for much of the second half.

Kohler made all six of his field goal attempts, including a trio of 3-pointers, and sank his only free throw. He also grabbed eight rebounds, two short of becoming the first Spartans player since at least 1996-97 to have six straight double-doubles in a season, according to Sportradar.

“I thought we played four out of their five starters great,” USC coach Eric Musselman said of his team’s defense. “When we executed the defensive game plan, I didn’t think it was bad. Their transition offense is really good. I thought we gave up maybe three or four baskets that we shouldn’t have.”

Ezra Ausar had 16 points and seven rebounds to pace USC (12-3, 1-3) but he also had seven turnovers. Jerry Easter added 12 points for the Trojans (12-3, 1-3), who were coming off a 96-66 loss to No. 2 Michigan on Friday and have lost consecutive games for the first time this season.

Chad Baker-Mazara, USC’s leading scorer at 20.4 points per game, struggled for the second straight game. He came off the bench and was held to four points. The Trojans are likely eager to return home, but they’ll remain in the Midwest for four more days because they play at Minnesota on Friday night to close a three-game trip.

“We’ll see how we respond,” Musselman said. “It’s unprecedented for this league to have a three-game road trip. We’re the first ones that I know that have done it and stayed on the road the whole time. We’ll give them off tomorrow and then see if we can regroup.”

Michigan State was ahead 33-17 at halftime with Kohler leading the way offensively, scoring eight points while seven teammates contributed at least two. The Spartans held the Trojans to 21.4% shooting and forced nine turnovers before halftime.

The Spartans turned a 13-9 advantage into a 19-point lead with a 20-5 run. Fears got it started by making consecutive jumpers. Kohler hit back-to-back 3-pointers and also assisted on a Divine Ugochukwu layup following a USC turnover to finish off the outburst.

A three-point play by Carr and a Fears basket after another USC turnover pushed Michigan State’s lead to 44-23 with 17:24 remaining. Moments later, Fears made a behind-the-back pass to Kur Teng for a fast-break layup. A Fears layup with 14:38 left gave the Spartans a 52-28 lead. A Denham Wojcik steal and layup extended the margin to 25 points.

Carr and Fears picked up their scoring in the second half to build a bigger cushion, combining to score 25 points after halftime.

Michigan State, which made half of its shots and held USC to 33% shooting for the night, bounced back from a 58-56 loss to No. 10 Nebraska to win for the fifth time in six games.

The Spartans enjoyed a 25-5 advantage in fast-break points and a 21-9 edge in points off the bench.

UP NEXT

USC visits Minnesota on Friday at 5:30 p.m. PT.