University Southern California Trojans
USC Plays At 7-1 Minnesota On Saturday
December 02, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2011
USC (4-4) will play at Minnesota (7-1) at WIlliams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. on Dec. 3 at 1:15 p.m. The game will be carried live on the Big Ten Network with Eric Collins and Eddie Johnson calling the action. USC is 3-1 in its last four games and has started 4-4 for the third straight season.
BREAKING DOWN THE GOPHERS -- The Gophers defeated Virginia Tech 58-55 at home on Nov. 30 and are 6-0 at Williams Arena this season. Minnesota's only loss was an 86-70 setback at the hands of Dayton in the Old Spice Classic championship game on Nov. 27. The Gophers leading scorer and rebounder senior Trevor Mbakwe (14.0 ppg/9.1 rpg) suffered a torn ACL in that game and is out for the season. Minnesota's next leading scorer is sophomore Austin Hollins at 9.5 ppg. USC is 2-2 all-time against Minnesota with the last game being a 76-58 loss in the NIT quarterfinals on March 24, 1993 in Bloomington, Minn. USC last played in Minnesota during the 2009 NCAA Tournament, when it defeated Boston College (72-55) before losing to eventual NCAA finalist Michigan State (74-69). Minnesota has held 5 of its 8 opponents to 58 points or less.
MEMORABLE VISIT TO RIVERSIDE -- Greg Allen scored 11 points and Alexis Moore added 10 to help USC defeat UC Riverside 56-35 in the Trojans' first-ever visit to Riverside on Nov. 30. The 35 points surrendered by USC were its lowest since also holding Oregon State to 35 on Dec. 11, 1954. UCR had its 16-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents snapped. A sellout crowd of 2,753 packed the small Student Recreation Center to see the game, more than 2,000 more fans than UCR had in its first home game. UCR jumped out to a 10-2 lead by hitting its first three shots and two free throws, but USC answered with a16-5 run and never looked back. Maurice Jones added 6 points and a career-high 7 assists.
A BIG HILL TO CLIMB -- When starting point guard and senior leader Jio Fontan went down with a knee injury in August it left USC with just 19.7 percent of its scoring returning and 12.4 percent of it rebounding returning entering the 2011-12 season. In terms of returning scoring for teams from BCS conferences (ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12), only three schools: St. Johns (3.7 percent), Boston College (10.8 percent) and Texas (17.0 percent) have a lower percentage of returning production. There were only eight schools in the country which entered the season with less than 20 percent of its scoring returning from a season ago. If you look at this season, of the 456 points scored by USC, only 167 of those points have been scored by a player that wore the Trojans's uniform last year (36.6 percent).
NEW MEXICO ON DECK -- USC's next game will be against New Mexico (5-2) on Dec. 10 at the Galen Center. The Lobos will host Missouri State on Dec. 3 before visiting Los Angeles. Sophomore Tony Snell leads UNM in scoring with a 13.7 average, followed by senior Drew Gordon who averages 11.0 points and a team-leading 9.7 rebounds. USC leads the all-time series with the Lobos 5-4, but has lost three straight, the last time on Nov. 11, 1997 (98-76).
SCHEDULE SPURTS -- With this game today, USC will have played nine games in the first 23 days of the season and is scheduled to play just one game in the next 13 days. After that, USC will play 5 games in 15 days.
JONES EARNS HONORS -- USC guard Maurice Jones was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 21-27 as he averaged 19.0 points and 3.0 assists and the Trojans went 2-1. In the 63-60 win vs. South Carolina on Nov. 26, Jones set a USC record by making all seven 3-point attempts. He made 57.1 percent of his field goal attempts for the week (20-for-35) and 62.5 percent of his 3-point attempts (10-for-16). He was also named Pac-12 Player of the Week by College Sports Madness and was named to the Las Vegas Invitational All-Tournament team.
TROJANS TAKE ROUTE 66 -- USC has held its opponents to an average of 55.5 points per game and has not allowed an opponent to score more than 66 points this season. It is the first time USC has started a season holding the opposition to 66 points or less for the first eight games since the 1955 season.
DEDMON SIDELINED WITH FOOT INJURY - USC sophomore forward Dewayne Dedmon was diagnosed with a stress injury to the fifth metatarsal in his right foot on Nov. 28 and could miss 4-6 weeks. Dedmon first noted mild discomfort early last week, but was not limited by pain until after the game vs. South Carolina at the Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 26. he scored 15 points, grabbed eight reobunds and thad three steals in that game. An MRI of his foot was taken on Nov. 28 and the stress injury was detected. With the aid of a walking boot and crutches, he is limited to non-weightbearing activity for a minimum of one week, at which time he will be re-evaluated.
USC FACING 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), 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.
NO DEFENSE FOR THIS -- USC has been outscored from the free throw line by 23 points in the first eight game. USC has struggled at the charity stripe, making just 60.4 percent (81-for-134). Despite taking five less free throws, USC's opponents have gained 23 points behind some amazing shooting, hitting 80.6 percent (104-for-129). To put that in perspective, despite none of those teams entering their game vs. USC with higher than 68 percent shooting in FTs, they have combine to hit free throws at a rate nearly as high as the top team in the country a year ago (81.8%).
LOOKING HOMEWARD -- After this game, USC will return home to play four consecutive games at the Galen Center to closeout the non-conference portion of the schedule: Dec. 10 vs. New Mexico, Dec. 17 vs. Georgia, Dec. 19 vs. TCU and Dec. 22 vs. Kansas. This will be the fourth consecutive game for USC away from home, having played vs. UNLV and South Carolina in Las Vegas, at UC Riverside and at Minnesota.
I REMEMBER THESE GUYS -- Trojan junior forward Aaron Fuller began his collegiate career at Iowa and faced Minnesota three times. As a freshman he played three scoreless minutes in the game at Iowa. As a sophomore he scored 10 points and had 8 rebounds in the game at home and in the one game he played here at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., Fuller scored 16 points and had three rebounds.
CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTOR -- Aaron Fuller has scored 10 or more points in six of USC games this season with a high of 19 vs. Morgan State on Nov. 22. He has also grabbed six or more rebounds in six of eight games this season with a high of 10 vs. South Carolina on Nov. 26.
WESLEY HITTING HIS STRIDE -- Freshman wing Byron Wesley has been getting better as the season has progressed. In his first five games, Wesley scored a total of 21 points for an average of 4.2 per game. In the last thee games, Wesley has scored 32 points for an average of 10.7 points per game.
ALLEN, JACKSON'S FREIGHT TRAIN -- Like the country singer Alan Jackson's song Freight Train, USC's Greg Allen and Garrett Jackson are picking up steam as the season progresses. The junior transfer guard Allen did not score in USC's first four games, but has scored 27 points in the last four games, three starts. He also led USC in scoring in the game at UC Riverside on Nov. 30. The sophomore Jackson scored a total of two points in the first two contests this season, but has poured in 39 points since.
