Trojan Head South To Face San Diego State Thursday
November 15, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2011
USC (1-1) will play at San Diego State (3-1) at Viejas Arena in San Diego, Calif. on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the Mountain West SportsNetwork. For the seventh time in 11 seasons, USC has begun the season with a 1-1 record.
BREAKING DOWN THE AZTECS -- The Aztecs went 34-3 last season and reached the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual NCAA champion Connecticut. SDSU is 3-1 with wins over Bryant (75-63), Southern Utah (70-37) and UC Davis (89-74) at home and a 77-67 loss at No. 11 Baylor. SDSU's lone returning starter is junior guard Chase Tapley who leads the Aztecs with a 21.8 average.
USC FALLS IN DOUBLE-OT HEARTBREAKER -- When USC and Nebraska play in basketball you expect a tough, close, low-scoring game and they didn't disappoint with the Cornhuskers defeating USC for the third straight season, this time 64-61 in double-overtime on Nov. 14 at the Galen Center. USC held late leads in regulation and the first overtime, and then its rally came up short in the second overtime. Maurice Jones led USC with 18 points and four assists. The Trojans shot only 33.3 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from the charity stripe.
CAL POLY ON DECK -- After the short trip to play at San Diego State, USC returns home to face Cal Poly of the Big West on Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. The Mustangs went 15-15 during the 2010-11 season and return four starters and nine lettermen from that squad. Cal Poly' leading returning scorer is senior forward David Hanson who averaged 15.2 points per game a year ago. The all-time series is tied at 1-1 with USC winning 78-55 on Dec. 22, 2007 and Cal Poly winning 93-78 on Dec. 22, 2003. The game is part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. Cal Poly won its opener 79-52 vs. San Jose State on Nov. 12 and will host CS Bakersfield on Nov. 16 before facing USC.
BETTER BE READY -- USC is playing is third game of seven within 16 days to start the season. Six of the seven games are potentially versus teams that finished .500 or better in the 2010-11 season.
USC TO FACE EXPERIENCED OPPONENTS - Seven of USC's first 10 opponents return at least four starters from last year's team: Nebraska (4), Cal Poly (4), Morgan State (4), UNLV (4), North Carolina (5)/South Carolina (4), UC Riverside (4) and New Mexico (4). Maurice Jones is USC's lone returning starter and he started the first 25 games and not the final nine.
CHECK YOUR DIALS -- Due to conflicts with the USC football games airing on ESPN Radio 710, the USC games on Nov. 19 vs. Cal Poly at 1 p.m. and vs. North Carolina/ South Carolina at 4:30 or 7:30 on Nov. 26 will air on the powerful DoubleX Sports 1090. The DoubleX Sports 1090 signal can be heard all over Los Angeles and Orange County.
CLOSE SHAVES -- 16 of the 30 losses in three seasons under Kevin O'Neill have been decided by 6 points or less (53.3 percent).
