Minnesota got the full Chad Baker-Mazara experience in OT loss to USC

One of college basketball's most interesting players left his mark on Friday night at the Barn.

Jan 9, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Southern California Trojans forward Chad Baker-Mazara (4) drives towards the basket as Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Isaac Asuma (1) defends during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Chad Baker-Mazara turns 26 years old in just over two weeks. Instead of playing professional basketball like his high school recruiting class peers, such as Cade Cunningham or Evan Mobley, he's currently playing his sixth year of college basketball at Southern California. The Gophers got to experience one of college basketball's most interesting players in Friday night's loss to the Trojans.

Plenty of athletes across the country have continued to play at the college level well into their mid-20s with sixth and sometimes seventh years of eligibility. Baker-Mazara's situation is just the latest, but that doesn't make it right. USC is the fifth different college program he has played at after stops at Duquesne, San Diego State, Northwest Florida State College and Auburn. He's notably older than NBA veterans like Anthony Edwards.

Apr 5, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Auburn Tigers guard Chad Baker-Mazara (10) reacts against the Florida Gators in the semifinals of the men's Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

You can hate the system, but Baker-Mazara is just following the "rules" that the NCAA has, and he's one of the top players in Division I college basketball this season. He showed it on Friday night with 16 points and five assists in the first half against Minnesota.

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Minnesota's top perimeter defender, Langston Reynolds, was able to slow him down a bit more in the second half with only 11 points, as the Gophers stormed back from a 13-point deficit to force overtime. He was held scoreless in the extra period before he drew a questionable foul on a drive to the basket with about 10 seconds left, which resulted in a pair of game-winning free throws.

Another look at the play that resulted in Chad Baker-Mazara heading to the free throw line for two game-winning free throws.

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— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) January 10, 2026

"I gotta see it. I mean, I don't know. It was probably tough, but again, I got back to; they set a high ball screen for him, and we needed to show, and we needed to try and keep him out of the lane. Sometimes those things happen fast. I thought we had done a good job in the second half of doing that," Gophers head coach Niko Medved said after the game.

"Just in the critical situation, we needed to have somebody else. We needed to not let him get downhill in the paint. He worked himself to the line; he's really good at it."

Baker-Mazara finished Friday's game with 29 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists on 9 of 20 shooting from the field, 4 of 10 from three-point range and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line. The Gophers' home crowd made things tough on him all night, but he was able to lean on experience with 134 previous games played at the Division I level.