University Southern California Trojans
USC Faces South Carolina Saturday At The Las Vegas Invitational
November 26, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2011
USC (2-4) will face South Carolina (2-3) at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. as part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 26 at 4:30 p.m. Tonight's game will be broadcast on the radio on DoubleX Sports 1090 due to conflict with the USC-UCLA football game on flagship station ESPN Radio 710.
BREAKING DOWN THE GAMECOCKS -- South Carolina is 2-3 with wins over Western Carolina (75-50) and Mississippi Valley St. (61-57) and losses to Elon (58-53), Tennessee St. (64-63) and North Carolina (87-62). South Carolina outrebounded UNC 43-35 in the late game last night, but committed 25 turnovers. The Gamecocks are led in scoring by Malik Cooke (11.8) and Eric Smith (9.4). USC trails in the all-time series with South Carolina, 1-2.
USC FALTERS LATE VS. UNLV -- USC gave the undefeated UNLV Runnin' Rebels all they could handle, but faltered down the stretch and lost 66-55 at the Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena. USC led 46-44 with 9:38 left in the game, but an offensive foul and subsequent technical on Dewayne Dedmon led to a Rebel 8-0 run and UNLV never trailed again. Dedmon fouled out on the play and Aaron Fuller fouled out 3 minutes later, finishing with 16 points. Together Dedmon and Fuller were limited to 22 minutes of action due to foul trouble. Byron Wesley tied Fuller to team-high honors with 16 points.
ON THE ROAD TO RIVERSIDE -- USC's next game will be at UC Riverside (1-4, plus a game vs. WSU on Nov. 27) on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Two of Riverside's losses have come in overtime. USC lead the all-time series 4-0 with the last win being a 77-67 victory on Nov. 17, 2009. This will be the first time USC has ever played at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside, Calif. UCR is led in scoring by senior guard Phil Martin who is averaging 14.4 points per game.
ALWAYS ENTERTAINING -- Forty-four of the 70 games played by USC in the last three seasons have been decided by 10 points or less (62.9 percent). Also, 18 of the 33 losses have been decided by 6 points or less (54.5 percent). USC played five consecutive games decided by 7 points or less to start the season before losing by 11 points to UNLV on Nov. 25. It was the first time since the 2010 season and just the third time in the past 21 seasons USC had played five straight games decided by 7 points or less. The last time USC played more consecutive games in one season decided by 7 points or less was the first 6 games of the 1990 season.
BOARD GAMES -- USC has been outrebounded in its last five games and is 1-4 in those contests. USC has allowed more than 10 offensive rebounds in each game this season with an average of 13.3 per game. USC was 4-11 in the games it was outrebounded last season.
HITTING THE ROAD -- USC will not play at home again until Dec. 10 vs. New Mexico. USC played UNLV yesterday and plays South Carolina today in Las Vegas, then will play at UC Riverside on Nov. 30 and at Minnesota on Dec. 3.
NO DEFENSE FOR THIS -- USC has been outscored from the free throw line by 20 points in the first six game. USC has struggled at the charity stripe, making just 61.5 percent (72-for-117). Despite taking four less free throw, USC's opponents have gained 20 points behind some amazing shooting, hitting 81.4 percent (92-for-113).
