USC Men's Basketball Kicks Off Big Ten Tournament Against Washington

Wednesday, March 11

Chicago, Ill.

11:30 a.m. PT

USC

Washington

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USC Mens Basketball loses to UCLA, March 7, Galen Center

Photo by: USC Athletics 2026

USC Men's Basketball Kicks Off Big Ten Tournament Against Washington

March 10, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

This will be the third meeting between the Trojans and Huskies this season.

CHICAGO – USC Men's Basketball (18-13, 7-13 Big Ten) will make the trip to Chicago for the 2026 Big Ten Tournament as the 13th seed, facing the 12th-seeded Washington (15-16, 7-13 Big Ten). USC lost both games in this season's series against the Huskies, but holds the all-time series edge 83-77.

Last year, USC Men's Basketball defeated Rutgers 97-89 in a double-overtime thriller. The Trojans then took the sixth-seeded, nationally ranked Purdue to the final minutes, where they fell short 76-71 to the Boilermakers. The last time USC won its conference tournament was 2009, when it was a part of the Pac-12 Conference.

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
March 11, 2026
United Center | Chicago, Ill.
Approx. 11:30 a.m. PT
TV: Peacock

LAST TIME OUT
USC Men's Basketball fell 89-68 to UCLA in its seventh straight loss of the season. The Bruins led by as many as 25 points in the second half, and the Trojans could not rally together for a comeback. UCLA connected on nearly 53% of its three-point attempts to USC's 29%. Alijah Arenas posted a team-high 20 points, while Ezra Ausar recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES

Hannes Steinbach's 20 double-doubles this season are the most from a Big Ten freshman since 1997, as well as tied for second in the NCAA. His averages of 18.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per game pace all Huskies, along with shooting a team-high 58% from the floor.
Steinbach also leads the Big Ten in all rebounding efforts, including offensive rebounds (3.9) and defensive rebounds (7.2) per game.
In its last game, Washington dropped 85-79 to Oregon on March 11. In the loss, the Huskies attempted a comeback on a late 29-8 run, and Steinbach recorded his fourth straight double-double.
Zoom Diallo registers over 15 points per game and 4 assists per game.
Franck Kepnang's 2.1 blocks per game rank third in the conference. He's racked up 56 blocks during this season.
Former Trojan Wesley Yates III is putting up numbers for the Huskies, averaging nearly 13 points per game.
Washington is 1-1 at neutral sites.
The Huskies have been shooting a .459 clip and hold a 4.4 rebounding margin over their opponents.
Washington has the lowest three-point percentage in the Big Ten, landing 31% of its shots from beyond the arc.
The last outing between the Huskies and the Trojans was on March 4. USC was outscored 54-32 in the paint and lost the rebounding battle 46-37. Steinbach had 22 points and 24 rebounds in the game.

NEUTRAL COURT, NO PROBLEM
This season, USC is undefeated when playing on a neutral court. They grabbed their first neutral site win against Illinois State at the Intuit Dome, before winning the Maui Invitational by winning three-straight games in Hawai'i.

1,000-POINT CLUB
This season has opportunities for more Trojans to hit 1,000 career points. Currently, three Trojans have reached that milestone: Ezra Ausar, Ryan Cornish and Kam Woods.

After scoring 603 points last season, Jordan Marsh is getting closer to accomplishing that feat, as he currently has 992. Terrance Williams II is also within 100 points of hitting that goal, as he also has 910 career points.

With 913 career points, Jaden Brownell is also getting close to the 1,000-point milestone.

BLOCK PARTY
USC is one of the best shot-blocking teams in the country. Currently, the Trojans are eighth in the nation, averaging 5.6 blocks per game. Jacob Cofie is a huge piece to that as he has registered at least one block in all but three games this season. He is averaging 1.70 blocks per game.