By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Out-hustled for most of the first half, the USC Trojans responded Wednesday night by scoring the last 13 points before intermission, on their way to an easy 97-70 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.
USC (11-1) of the Big Ten Conference shot 59 percent from the field and outscored the visiting team from Texas 57-39 in the second half en route to its third straight win.
Senior forward Ezra Ausar led the Trojans with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Chad Baker-Mazara, who played in the Final Four last year with Auburn, had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.
USC entered the week receiving votes, just behind the Top 25, in the Associated Press poll. The Trojans entered Wednesday night’s game at the Galen Center 39th in the NET rankings.
Playing without starting guard Austin Nunez, UTSA (4-7) lost its fourth straight despite the efforts of Jamir Simpson, Brett Moss and Kaidon Rayfield. Simpson and Moss scored 16 points each and Rayfield 14.
The Roadrunners started off the game well, crashing the boards and creating a few turnovers, but they failed to slow down the pace when the momentum turned.
As a result, their losing streak has reached four games, with all of the scoring margins by 24 points or more.
UTSA will now return home to San Antonio with one home game remaining (Monday against Seattle) before the start of conference play in the American.
The Roadrunners’ last win came on Nov. 25 in Jacksonville, Fla., when they beat the Georgia Southern Eagles, 77-64.
In the losing streak, they started it off with the South Alabama Jaguars, who beat the ‘Runners 82-58 at the Convocation Center.
Subsequently, they took to the road for three straight against power conference opponents and dropped all three, falling to nationally-ranked Alabama, 97-55; to Colorado, 88-64 and now to USC.
Against the Trojans, they played well enough to win for the first 17 minutes and then went flat. The Roadrunners finished by shooting 34.9 percent from the field and 25.9 percent from three.
UTSA hit seven of 27 from behind the arc.
In the USC camp, the Trojans announced on game day that high-scoring guard Rodney Rice would be lost for the season.
On the other hand, it was reported that freshman guard Alijah Arenas could be getting ready to play after sitting out the first 12 games.
It didn’t seem to matter either way for the Trojans, who blew out the Roadrunners and led by as many as 29 points late in the game.
Records
UTSA 4-7
USC 11-1
Coming up
Seattle at UTSA, Monday, 2 p.m.
Notable
The Roadrunners finished their non-conference run against power conference teams at 0-3 this season, extending the program’s losing streak against the majors to 31 games.
UTSA hasn’t won against a power conference team (Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC or Pac 12) since beating Iowa on the road in November of 2009.
With Nunez out, Moss started in his place on a guard line that included Dorian Hayes and Simpson. Daniel Akitoby started along with Kaidon Rayfield on the front line.
Akitoby finished with four points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes. Freshman Matheo Coffi, a frontcourt starter most of the season, came off the bench. He finished with zero points and four rebounds.
First half
The Trojans picked up the intensity in the final minutes of the half, overcoming a four-point deficit to take a 40-31 lead at intermission.
For the first 17 minutes in the half, the Roadrunners used a strong performance on the boards to play the Trojans mostly on even terms.
Moss hit a jumper and Jamir Simpson added two free throws to lift UTSA into a 31-27 advantage with less than four minutes remaining.
From there, the Trojans retaliated with their best effort of the night.
Forcing the pace with their defense on one end, they hit five of eight shots on the other.
The Trojans capped the run in the final minute with a 6-0 streak. Chad Baker-Mazara started it by picking up a steal. Later, he snared an offensive rebound and followed it in.
After a miss by Akitoby, junior guard Jordan Marsh responded on the other end with a three-pointer.
USC’s defense stepped up again as Ryan Cornish got a steal off UTSA’s Jamir Simpson, which led to a driving layup by Marsh with 27 seconds left.
UTSA turned it over again on its last possession, but USC’s Terrence Williams II missed a three at the buzzer.