The USC Trojans‘ slim possibilities of making the NCAA Event simply turned even thinner.
Within the second half of the Trojans’ 82-67 house loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, guard Chad Baker-Mazara appeared to exit with an damage. Now, he is now not with the workforce. On Sunday, USC confirmed he has left this system.
Why did Chad Baker-Mazara go away USC?
The rationale for his departure stays unclear. USC did not supply any rationalization when it made the announcement.
“We’ve got nothing extra so as to add presently,” USC spokesperson Kristen Keller texted Beth Harris of the Related Press.
In Saturday’s sport, Baker-Mazara appeared to inform Trojans head coach Eric Musselman that he could not re-enter after a tough fall following a block on Cornhuskers ahead Pryce Sandfort (through ESPN’s Jeff Brozello). He then sat close to injured junior guard Rodney Rice in an space with followers as an alternative of the bench earlier than leaving the sector.
“He stated he could not go,” Musselman stated of Baker-Mazara (through Borzello). The coach added he had not spoken with the workforce’s coach about his standing.
When requested why Baker-Mazara sat with followers as an alternative of with the workforce, the coach stated there weren’t sufficient chairs on the bench. No matter contributed to the guard’s departure, it is coming at a foul time for USC.
How Chad Baker-Mazara’s exit hurts USC’s NCAA Event possibilities
The Trojans (18-11, 7-11 Large Ten) wanted a late-season push to re-enter the NCAA Event dialog. USC has misplaced 5 straight video games and is now thought-about a protracted shot to make the match except it wins the Large Ten Event, which might assist it safe an computerized bid. In a narrative printed Sunday, ESPN’s Neil Paine reported the Trojans have a 14% likelihood of clinching an at-large bid within the “Large Dance.”
Baker-Mazara, 26, was poised to play an enormous half throughout USC’s last two regular-season video games and the Large Ten Event. He had assumed the No. 1 position on offense since Rice (who averaged 20.3 factors per sport in six contests this season) suffered a season-ending shoulder damage in December. After 26 video games, the guard was logging a team-leading 18.5 PPG.
Now that he is all of the sudden vanished, it appears USC’s hopes of constructing March Insanity have additionally evaporated.
