USC Men's Basketball's Comeback Falls Short Against Ohio State

Wednesday, February 11

Columbus, Ohio

3:30 p.m.

USC

Ohio State

USC Men's Basketball's Comeback Falls Short Against Ohio State

February 11, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score (PDF)Highlights

Jordan Marsh and Alijah Arenas led the offense in the second half.

COLUMBUS — USC Men's Basketball's (18-7, 7-7 Big Ten) three-game win streak came to an end with an 89-82 loss to Ohio State (16-8, 8-6 Big Ten) on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

The Buckeyes led by nine points with four minutes to go before the Trojans made a furious comeback attempt. USC cut the deficit to two points, but Ohio State's Bruce Thornton made nine points in the last 94 seconds to carry the Buckeyes.

Both teams shot well, with the Buckeyes connecting on 50% of their field goals, while the Trojans shot at a 41.5% clip. USC committed just 10 turnovers to Ohio State's 12 and both teams finished with 32 rebounds apiece.

Freshman Alijah Arenas earned his third game with at least 20 points by leading all players with 25. Four other Trojans finished in double figures: Kam Woods had 14 points, Ezra Ausar scored 13, Jordan Marsh — who scored all 13 of his points in the second half — and Jacob Cofie finished with 12.

HOW IT HAPPENED
USC got off to a fast start and took an 11-4 lead before the first media timeout. The Trojans earned six of their first 13 points from the free-throw line and five points from Kam Woods in the first four minutes. Defensively, the Trojans forced two early turnovers, including a steal from Ezra Ausar that led to a tricky, right-handed layup from Woods to put the Trojans up 15-6 with 13 minutes to play.

However, Ohio State's leading scorer Bruce Thornton sparked a 9-0 run to tie the game at 15 with 11:26 to go. The Buckeyes took their first lead of the night with 9:38 to go, but USC countered when Ausar made his first of two free throws, then gathered his own miss on the second attempt before muscling in for a layup to make the score 20-19, USC.

From that point forward, there were four ties and two lead changes as neither team could pull ahead. However, the Trojans got a late lift from Jacob Cofie, who scored seven points in two minutes, to make their move. With less than four minutes to go, USC took a two-possession lead thanks to six points from Ausar, another three from Cofie, and a fast-break layup from Alijah Arenas off a long rebound. Yet Ohio State scored on the final possession of the half to make the score 43-40 in favor of USC.

The Trojan offense went cold to start the second half, as USC missed 10 of its first 13 shots. Ohio State went on a 9-0 run to reclaim the lead before a pair of free throws from Arenas made it a three-point game with 13:22 left.

Ohio State kept its advantage, leading 67-60 with 8:13 to go. That is when Woods helped USC chip away at the lead with six-straight points off difficult layups. Jordan Marsh was instrumental late in the game, beating the shot clock with a deep three to put USC within one. However, Ohio State went on another run and increased its lead to nine, 78-69, with four minutes to play.

Marsh made several key plays down the stretch. With 2:36 to go and the Trojans down 80-74, he drew contact on a three-point attempt and made two of the ensuing free throws. On the next possession, he blocked a would-be easy Ohio State layup out of bounds. After the inbounds pass, USC successfully challenged that Ohio State tipped the ball out of bounds, which led to another Marsh three to make it a two-point game.

USC pulled within one point off an Arenas corner three, yet the Trojans couldn't get closer. Ohio State outscored the Trojans 7-1 in the final minute — mostly from the free-throw line — to hand USC the 89-82 loss.

NOTABLES

Alijah Arenas finished his third-straight game with at least 20 points, rounding out the night with 25 points. Along with that, Arenas tallied a career-high three assists and three steals.
Kam Woods also earned double-figures in his third straight game, contributing 14 points. He also secured six rebounds and dished out three assists.
Jacob Cofie ended the game with two blocks, which is the 12th time this season he has earned at least two. Cofie also added 12 points and two steals to the stat sheet.
Jordan Marsh scored all 13 of his points in the second half for the second time this season.
Ezra Ausar was the first Trojan to finish with double-digit points against the Buckeyes. By the time he left the game, Ausar registered 13 points and nine rebounds. He also tied his career-high with four assists
Wednesday's game was USC's eighth-straight game decided by 10 points or less, which is the longest streak by a Big Ten team since Illinois also had eight consecutive games in 2012.
USC's 43 first-half points were the team's second-most in Big Ten play, trailing its 48 first-half points against Washington.
The Trojans are now 3-6 all-time against the Buckeyes, and Coach Eric Musselman is 0-2 all-time against Ohio State.
Tonight's starting lineup featured Kam Woods, Alijah Arenas, Jacob Cofie, Ezra Ausar and Gabe Dynes. This lineup is 0-1 this season.

QUOTABLES
Assistant Coach Earl Boykins on tonight's game…
"We didn't close out the last four minutes of the game. When you're on the road, you have to close out the game at the defensive end, and tonight, we did not do that at all. We fouled way too much, and you know you just can't win games with that."

Assistant Coach Earl Boykins on the team's seven-day break before playing Illinois…
"It's been a long year so far. I think this is a much-needed break for the guys. The three long trips we've taken this year are a lot. It's going to be good for them to get the break and for us to get in the gym and get back to the basics."

UP NEXT
USC will have the next week off from games as they prepare to take on No. 5 Illinois in the Galen Center on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. PT on the Big Ten Network. Fans can also listen through ESPN LA 710.