LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team outsmarted a physically imposing Washington team in the first half, but couldn’t follow up with a second half strong enough and fell to the Huskies, 84-76 on Saturday.

Chad Baker-Mazara scored a team-high 21 points and pulled down six rebounds. He went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Jordan Marsh added 17 points off the bench and Jerry Easter contributed 13 points.

Washington’s Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III, who are both USC transfers, finished with 22 points and 16 points, respectively.

A corner three by Easter, a true freshman, gave USC (8-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) a brief surge with a minute remaining in the game, but Washington built on a dominant second half and sank five free throws to finish off the game.

The first half

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