LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team went into Sunday afternoon with a new opponent and a new player in the lineup, but that didn’t stop the Trojans from beating UC Santa Cruz 102-63. The victory marked head coach Eric Musselman’s 250th career win. Gabe Dynes scored a season-high 16 p oints and had an additional five rebounds and four blocks. Chad Baker-Mazara and Ezra Ausar each scored 15 points and Baker-Mazara grabbed seven boards. Jacob Cofie added 14 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Kam Woods, a point guard who was added at the end of the fall semester, had six rebounds, a team-high six assists and three steals. “He commands the game and he led us in assists tonight,” Musselman told reporters after the game. “He’s a guy that’s going to really, really help us. He’s a high assist player and a high steal player, and we’ve been missing creating steals.” USC added the Division III Banana Slugs to its schedule after canceling its game against Brown due to a mutual decision based on the impact of the school shooting at the Rhode Island school. “And their team decided — they had a group in Northern California, a group in Southern California — they decided to come play this game,” Musselman said. “I give their coach and players a lot of credit for taking an opportunity to play against the Big Ten team.” It was the perfect low-stakes environment for Woods, a Robert Morris transfer, to get back up to game speed. His last game was on March 21 against Alabama in the East Region first round of the NCAA Tournament. Woods rounded out a depleted Trojans roster that was down three players due to injury in Alijah Arenas, Rodney Rice and Amarion Dickerson, whom Woods played with at Robert Morris. “He got in my ear saying what the team needs,” Woods said of Dickerson. “And he knows what I could do personally. He was in those practices without the fans last year, so he knows what I could do. And he’s in the practices here, so he knows what the team needs also. He definitely was a big part of (me coming here).” Woods eased his way back into playing, shooting sparingly but always ready for a rebound. He banged a 3-point attempt off the rim as the first half wound down, but Baker-Mazara was there to grab the ball and slam it in for an 8-0 scoring run and a 45-26 advantage at halftime. “Once I went into halftime, second half, I felt good,” Woods said. “And then that’s when I started getting assists and bringing the energy. So, just getting back that first game, I definitely need this game instead of Michigan as my first game.” UC Santa Cruz, which is currently on a 16-game road trip, attacked from the perimeter early. Seven different players attempted a shot from 3-point range and the Banana Slugs shot 50% from afar in the first half after averaging roughly 33% heading into the game. They took a 15-14 lead on a triple by Ben Lim with 12 minutes remaining in the opening half. Still, UC Santa Cruz was unable to compete with the physicality that power forwards Ezra Ausar and Jacob Cofie brought to the paint. The Banana Slugs scored only 14 points from that area in the game. Gabe Dynes had one of his best games this season. The 7-foot-6 center played 22 minutes and stationed himself under the hoop, ready for any pass that came his way. It was the most playing time he saw this season since Nov. 14 against Illinois State. “Seasons have highs and lows,” Dynes said. “It is frustrating when stuff doesn’t go your way, but eventually, it will go your way. You’ve just got to stay with it.” He made back-to-back dunks in the first half and, in the second half, Ausar and Jerry Easter dished out high passes that he was able to tip into the basket. “I thought he stepped up and played really well,” Musselman said of Dynes. “I thought he rolled below the defenders and led us in scoring, and it’s a huge step in the right direction.” The Trojans held the Banana Slugs to 37 points in the second half on 48.1% shooting to finish off the game on a high note before heading into its most difficult road stretch of the season. They’ll play at No. 2 Michigan on Jan. 2, at No. 9 Michigan State on Jan. 5 and at Minnesota on Jan. 9. ...read more read less