USC To Face Middle Tennessee In Diamond Head Classic Semifinals

The USC Trojans (7-4) are facing Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (8-2) in a second-round game at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i on Dec. 23 at 1:30 p.m. PT. The winner of the USC-Middle Tennessee game will play the winner of the New Mexico State-Miami game on Dec. 25 for the title, while the other two teams will meet the same day. USC has won all four games it has played at the Diamond Head Classic, winning the 2009 title (3-0).

BREAKING DOWN THE BLUE RAIDERS -- Middle Tennessee (8-2) is coming off a 69-67 first-round win over Princeton on Dec. 22. USC lost to Princeton 103-93 in overtime on Dec. 19 before heading to Hawai'i. Both USC and Middle Tennessee also have wins at Vanderbilt. Middle Tennessee's two losses were by six points against Belmont and Auburn. Redshirt senior forward Nick King leads the Blue Raiders in scoring (22.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg). Middle Tennessee was 31-5 last season, won the Conference USA regular season and conference tournament titles and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It returned three starters and seven lettermen from that team. This is the first meeting between the two schools.

USC RALLIES TO DEFEAT AKRON -- USC outscored Akron 55-20 in the second half to post an 84-53 comeback victory in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i on Dec. 22. USC trailed by as many as nine points in the first half and by four at halftime (34-29), but outscored the Zips 22-5 in the first seven minutes after the break to open a 51-38 lead and were never challenged after that. Elijah Stewart scord 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half. USC made 60.7 percent of its shots in the second half to finish with a 49.1 shooting percentage for the game. USC held Akron to 25.0 percent shooting in the second half and 32.0 percent for the game. USC forced 16 turnovers and outscored Akron 21-10 on points off turnovers. USC outrebounded Akron 39-23 and outscored them 24-14 on points in the paint. Eleven different Trojans scored, including seven which scored five or more points.

TIS THE SEASON OF SHARING -- Jordan McLaughlin's 19 assists on Dec. 17 vs. UCSB broke his school record of 16 assists in a game set in 2015 and tied the Pac-12 single-game record for assists in a game of 19 set by Russell Brown of Arizona in 1979. USC's 28 assists vs. UCSB were its most in a game since registering 29 vs. George Mason on Dec. 20, 1995.

NEW MEXICO STATE OR MIAMI ON DECK - USC's final game at the Diamond Head Classic will be against either New Mexico State (10-2) or No. 6 Miami (10-0) on Dec. 25. New Mexico State defeated Davidson 69-68 on Dec. 22, while Miami defeated host Hawai'i 75-57 on the same day. NMSU was 28-6 last season and returned three starters from that team. USC leads the all-time series 5-1, winning the last meeting 80-61 on Nov. 21, 2011. Miami was 21-12 last season and returned three starters from that team. USC leads the all-time series against Miami 2-0, winning the last meeting 86-66 on Dec. 27, 1992. Miami is one of four remaining undefeated teams this season.

COMPACT SCHEDULE -- USC is in the midst of playing eight games in 18 days (3-1), after beginning the season with seven games in 34 days.

OFFENSE STARTING TO CLICK -- USC has scored 80 or more points in five consecutive games (88.0 points/game). USC is making 50.5 percent (160-for-317) of its shots in that stretch.

McGLAUGHLIN RISING UP THE CHARTS -- Senior point guard Jordan McLaughlin continues to lead the Trojans and move up some of USC's all-time lists. McLaughlin is averaging 13.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.9 assists this season. He leads all Pac-12 players in assists per game and is second in steals per game (2.2). McLaughlin ranks second on USC's all-time list and is sixth among current players with 544 career assists. He also ranks 6th in steals (165), 10th in three-pointers (151), T-14th in scoring (1,341) and 8th in minutes played on USC's all-time lists.

MIGHTY METU -- USC forward Chimezie Metu has registered 29 dunks in USC's first 11 games, with at least one in every game accept vs. Akron on Dec. 22. He has out-dunked USC's opponents 29-19 this season and USC has had 49 dunks to its opposition's 19.

COMEBACK KIDS AT IT AGAIN -- USC rallied from a 10-point deficit in the win vs. North Dakota State on Nov. 13, from a 14-point hole in the victory at Vanderbilt on Nov. 19 and from 9 back vs. Akron on Dec. 22. USC led all NCAA teams during the 2016-17 season with 13 comebacks from 10 or more points down. USC also had 15 wins in games it trailed by nine or more points in the 2016-17 season.

Players Mentioned

Jordan McLaughlin

Chimezie Metu

Elijah Stewart