After a four-game losing streak that included losses to three of the Big Ten’s top four teams, Indiana men’s basketball won three consecutive games to propel itself into the projected NCAA Tournament field. The Hoosiers earned back-to-back Quadrant 1 victories over No. 12 Purdue on Jan. 27 and UCLA on Saturday.
The two wins moved the Hoosiers up five places in the NCAA’s NET rankings, as the Cream and Crimson now sit tied with Ohio State for ninth place in the conference.
Indiana (15-7, 6-5 Big Ten) is set to complete its West Coast trip with a matchup against USC (16-6, 5-6 Big Ten) on Tuesday.
Throughout Indiana’s resurgence, junior guard Nick Dorn has emerged as a potent scoring threat from beyond the arc. Dorn has knocked down 16 3-pointers in his three starts since sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway suffered an injury against Iowa on Jan. 17. The 6-foot-7 Dorn set season-high scoring marks with 23 and 26 points against Rutgers and UCLA, respectively.
In league play, Dorn has surpassed redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries to enter the conference’s top 10 in total 3-pointers, tallying 28 longballs across 11 games. Of Dorn's 121 field goal attempts, 106 have come from beyond the arc. He shoots a team-high 44.3% from 3-point range.
Prior to Indiana’s win over Rutgers, no Hoosier trio had each reached 20 points in a contest since forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, forward Miller Kopp and guard Parker Stewart did so against Syracuse University in 2021. Since the Hoosiers’ contest with the Scarlet Knights, it’s happened twice. DeVries, Dorn and fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson accomplished the feat against Rutgers, while Wilkerson and Dorn were joined by senior forward Reed Bailey to achieve the mark once more against UCLA.
Dorn’s emergence as a prominent scoring threat coupled with DeVries breaking out of his shooting slump have the Cream and Crimson on their biggest win streak since the proper conference slate began.
Nonconference dominance
USC began the 2025-26 season with an 8-0 record. The Trojans didn’t lose until a clash with Washington on Dec. 6. They finished their nonconference schedule without a loss, with power conference wins over Seton Hall University and Arizona State University.
Across 11 nonconference games, USC was led by two 20-points per game scorers. Graduate guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara averaged 20.6 points, while junior guard Rodney Rice added 20.3 points per contest in the six games he played before suffering a season-ending right shoulder injury Nov. 25.
Common foes
Like Indiana, USC has struggled in the first half of its conference slate. The two teams share losses to No. 2 Michigan, No. 10 Michigan State and Iowa. The Trojans lost their contests by a combined 60 points, while the Hoosiers fell by 52.
USC and Indiana have also both defeated Maryland and Rutgers.
Where the teams diverge is their matchups with teams at the bottom of the conference standings. While Indiana fell on the road against Minnesota and defeated Washington in Bloomington, USC lost to the Huskies at home and beat the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis. Additionally, the Trojans fell to Purdue, while Indiana took down its rival Boilermakers.
Meet the Trojans
USC is led by head coach Eric Musselman, now in his second season at the helm. Prior to taking over the Trojans, Musselman served as the head coach at the University of Nevada and the University of Arkansas, accumulating eight 20-win seasons and six trips to the NCAA Tournament across nine seasons. In his first year at USC, the Trojans went 17-18.
With Rice out for the season, Baker-Mazara, who attempts over six 3-pointers per game, is the focal point of USC's offense. The 26-year-old has connected on more than double the amount of longballs than the next closest Trojan, averaging 18.8 points per game with 50 makes from beyond the arc on the season.
Behind Baker-Mazara, senior forward Ezra Ausar adds 16.1 points and six rebounds per game, while 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Jacob Cofie leads the team with 7.4 rebounds per game, scoring 9.9 points per contest. Other than Baker-Mazara, only graduate forward Jaden Brownell averages at least one 3-pointer per game.
As a team, the Trojans shoot just 31.9% from the 3-point line. However, they make 19.9 free throws per game, which ranks seventh in the nation and first in the Big Ten.
Freshman guard Alijah Arenas — the son of former NBA All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas — made his USC debut against Northwestern on Jan. 21 after recovering from injuries suffered in a car crash in April and a torn meniscus in July. The five-star recruit has started in each of his four games played, averaging 7.5 points.
Indiana will conclude its West Coast trip in a matchup with USC at 10 p.m. Tuesday inside the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Coverage will be available on Peacock.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
