LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chad Baker-Mazara scored a career-high 34 points and Jordan Marsh hit a contested 3-pointer to lead USC to a 107-106 victory over Troy on Thursday night.
Troy, coming off a 108-107 double-overtime win over San Diego State on Tuesday, led throughout the third overtime but put the ball away in the front court after deflecting Baker-Mazara's missed shot with about 10 seconds left. Rodney Rice received the loose ball and sent it forward to Marsh, who made a couple of dribbles and fired home almost immediately.
Rice had 26 points and nine assists for USC (4-0), and Ezra Osar had 22 points, which was outshot 63-39, including 25-7 on the offensive end.
Cooper Campbell scored a career-high 32 points, 10 in the third overtime, for Troy (4-3), including a pair of his career-high six 3-pointers early in the final overtime, along with 12 rebounds and eight assists. Victor Valdez scored 24 points, Theo Sand 20 and Thomas Dowd 19 with 12 rebounds.
Campbell forced overtime with a 3-pointer from the right wing a couple of steps behind the line with 7.8 seconds to play, tying the game at 68. Rice's jumper from the free throw line bounced off the rim as time expired.
It was the same in overtime, but Seng hit a pair of layups with less than 20 seconds left to tie the game at 78. The long drive wasn't close for USC.
Troy took its first lead since late in the first half when Seng opened the second overtime with a basket. Baker-Mazara scored eight points and USC was up by two when Dowd hit a jump ball in the lane to tie the game at 89 with 22.1 seconds left. Baker-Mazara was unable to convert the drive as time expired.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, which ended tied at 29. Neither team led by more than five, and there were 15 lead changes.
Next
Troy plays Toledo on Monday in Ft. Myers, Florida, in the Coconut Hoops multi-team tournament.
USC will play Boise State on Monday in the Maui Invitational.
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