Men’s Basketball | November 26, 2024

ACRISURE CLASSIC — USC travels south this holiday weekend as the Trojans face off in the two-day Acrisure Arena Classic in Palm Desert, California.

On Thanksgiving Thursday, November 28th, USC will face Saint Mary’s at 6:00 p.m. The winner of this game advances to the championship game on Friday, November 29th and will play the winner of the Arizona State-New Mexico game at 6:30 p.m. PT. The consolation game will be played on Friday at 9 p.m.

USC last competed at Acrisure Arena on Oct. 26, when the Trojans defeated Gonzaga 96-93 in an exhibition game.

MATCH REPORTS
STREAM: truTV/MAX
RADIO: ESPN LA APP or USCtrojans.com/listen & USC Gameday App

USC – HISTORY OF SAINT MARY – Wednesday will be the ninth all-time
matchups between the two programs, with USC holding an 8-0 streak
Advantage. The last time the Trojans faced St. Mary’s was in 2010, when USC defeated the Gaels 60-49.

SCOUT THE OPPONENTS —

Saint Mary’s (6-0 – Randy Bennett)
– Saint Mary’s received 52 votes in the latest AP poll. The Gaels received votes in both the AP and preseason coaches polls.
– Forward Paulius Murauskas is currently averaging 14.3 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game. Augustas Marciulionis is averaging 14.7 points per game and has 37 assists.
– Selected to finish second in the 2024-25 WCC Preseason Poll, with Augustas Marciulionis and Mitchell Saxen named to the Preseason All-Conference team.
– Saint Mary’s senior point guard and reigning WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis has been named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason watch list.
– USC MBB HC Eric Musselman and Randy Bennett of Saint Mary’s College HC have known each other since Musselman was a player in San Diego and Bennett was an assistant.
– Last season, the Gaels posted a 26-8 record and earned a third straight NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in program history.

Arizona State (5-1 – Bobby Hurley)
– Received 5 votes in the latest AP poll.
– Freshman guard Joson Sanon was named Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 18 after averaging 19.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 30.5 minutes and giving ASU a decisive spark in two games delivered to the bank.
– ASU averages 79.5 points per game and holds opponents to 73.5 points.
– Sanon is averaging 14.3 points per game in six contests and 3.8 boards.
-Freshman F Jayden Quaintance is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game, the most of any Sun Devils.
– ASU scored a season-high 93 points against Cal Poly on 11/20/24
– The Sun Devils’ only loss of the season came on November 10th against Gonzaga (88-80).
– USC has a 62-44 all-time record against the Sun Devils, most recently 81-73 against ASU in 2024.

New Mexico (5-1 – Richard Pitino)
– New Mexico averages 85.5 points per game and holds opponents to 73.3.
– Donovan Dent leads the Lobos with 102 total points, an average of 17 points per game.
– Nelly Joseph has 14 blocks this season and is New Mexico’s second-leading scorer with 14.2 points per game.
– The Lobos’ only loss of the season came on Nov. 17, when New Mexico lost 85-71 to St. John.
– The Lobos won the program’s first Mountain West championship and secured an NCAA berth for the first time in a decade in 2023-24.
– USC is 7-6 all-time against New Mexico, most recently 90-82 against the Lobos in 2016.

Trojans with a new look — USC’s revamped 2024-25 roster features 17 new faces and two returning members of last year’s team — including 11 recruited through the transfer portal.

MUSSELMAN AT THE CONTROLS:

Eric Musselman was named USC men’s basketball head coach on April 4, 2024, Charles Griffin Cale Athletics Director Jennifer Cohen announced.

Eric MusselmanThe 59-year-old is a proven winner who has excelled at both the college and professional levels, most recently at Arkansas, where he led the Razorbacks to a 111-59 record in five seasons as the program’s leader. The 111 wins during that span were 13th among all Power 6 conference teams. In eight of his nine seasons as a collegiate head coach at Nevada (2016-19) and Arkansas (2020-24), his teams won 20 or more games and he compiled a record of 221-93 with a winning percentage of 70.4. Musselman has the 10th-best winning percentage of any active Division I coach who has coached for at least nine seasons. Musselman has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including 22 years as a professional and collegiate head coach.

NEW HEIGHTS — USC has eight players on the roster who are 6-7 or taller. According to Kenpom.com, the average height per player at USC is 78.5 inches, or 6 feet 54 inches, ranking 20th nationally. The Trojans are also the Big Ten’s fourth tallest team on average.

COHEN’S CORNER – Josh Cohen is averaging 12 points per game, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 17.4 minutes played per game this season. Against Idaho State, Cohen led USC with 19 points and shot 66.7% from the field in 29 minutes played.

HOLY STOCKS — Saint Thomas had 33 assists in six games as a Trojan. Against Idaho State, Thomas recorded nine assists in the first half. He is currently averaging 5.5 assists per game in 33.6 minutes (average).

USC CAN SCORE – In six games Desmond Claude has scored 77 points in six games and is averaging 12.8 points per game. Terrance Williams II leads USC in points per game (average) with 13.3 in four games played.

As a team, USC has scored 75 or more points in five of its opening six contests.

Oh, how the tide turns – The Trojans have forced 83 turnovers and have had 59 turnovers in six games (+4 margin).


USC also averages 13.5 points per game off turnovers.

Magical in both directions – Since the 2019 season, USC holds a record of 86-18 when scoring 70 or more points.

A STORY OF WINNING – USC has compiled a record of 1,717-1,263* in its 118 years of intercollegiate basketball competition. USC had a record of .500 or better in 83 of its first 118 seasons. * 21 wins and one loss in 2007-08 season overturned due to NCAA penalty, original record: 1,733-1,260.

THE GALEN ADVANTAGE – USC is 216-85 at the Galen Center since it opened on November 16, 2006. USC is also 109-26 in non-conference games at the Galen Center.

HOME STAND — USC played six straight home games to open the 2024-25 season before traveling to Palm Desert for the Acrisure Thanksgiving Classic this week. The Trojans are expected to leave the state just once in 2024 – a conference trip to Washington on Dec. 7.