It has certainly been a rough few weeks for the USC men’s basketball team. After dropping five games in a row, star Chad Baker-Masada departed from the program on Sunday in what was reportedly a dismissal for numerous conduct violations.
Despite this, however, the Trojans still entered the week with an outside chance of making the NCAA Tournament. On Wednesday night, however, those hopes effectively ended with the team’s sixth straight loss, this one coming to a Washington team that has struggled plenty itself this season.
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In a story that has been far too familiar this year, USC totally fell apart in the second half. After going into the break leading by three, the Trojans were outscored 51-29 over the final 20 minutes, turning a competitive game into a blowout defeat.
At this point, it feels as though USC’s hopes of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament are dead. The only way that the Trojans could make the field at this point would be by winning the Big Ten Tournament—which would require winning five games in five days two time zones away in perhaps the best conference in the country.
Overall, it has been a massively disappointing stretch run for a team that looked to be in prime position to make the tournament just a few weeks ago. While USC still had to play out the rest of its season—including a rivalry matchup with UCLA on Saturday night—head coach Eric Musselman must now go back to the drawing board as the Trojans will look to regroup for 2026-2027.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC men’s basketball falls to Washington, ending NCAA Tournament hopes
