USC Men's Basketball Heads South For Acrisure Classic

ACRISURE CLASSIC -- USC is headed south this holiday weekend as the Trojans compete in the two-day Acrisure Arena Classic in Palm Desert, Calif.

On Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 28, USC will face Saint Mary's at 6 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the championship game on Friday, Nov. 29 and play the winner of the Arizona State and New Mexico game at 6:30 p.m. PT. The consolation game will be played at 9 p.m. on Friday.

USC last competed at Acrisure Arena on October 26th when the Trojans beat Gonzaga 96-93 in an exhibition contest.

GAME COVERAGE
STREAM: truTV/MAX
RADIO: ESPN LA APP or USCTrojans.com/listen & USC Gameday App

USC - SAINT MARY'S HISTORY -- Wednesday will be the ninth all-time
meetings between the two programs, with USC holding a 8-0 series
advantage. The last time the Trojans faced St. Mary's was in 2010, when USC beat the Gaels 60-49.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS --
Saint Mary's (6-0 - Randy Bennett)
- Saint Mary's received 52 votes in the most recent AP poll. The Gaels received votes in both the preseason AP and Coaches Poll.
- 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 tallied 37 assists.
- Picked 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 defending WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis was named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason watchlist.
- USC MBB HC Eric Musselman and Saint Mary's College HC Randy Bennett have known each other since Musselman was a player at San Diego and Bennett was a grad assistant.
- Last season, the Gaels went 26-8 and earned a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in program history.

Arizona State (5-1 - Bobby Hurley)
- Received 5 votes in the most recent 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, providing a critical spark off the bench for ASU during two games.
- ASU is averaging 79.5 points per game, while holding opponents to 73.5 points.
- Sanon is averaging 14.3 points per game through six contests and 3.8 boards.
- Freshman F Jayden Quaintance is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game, the most of any Sun Devil.
- ASU scored a season high 93 points against Cal Poly on 11/20/24
- The Sun Devils only loss of the season was to Gonzaga on Nov. 10 (88-80)
- USC is 62-44 all-time against the Sun Devils, most recently beating ASU 81-73 in 2024.

New Mexico (5-1 - Richard Pitino)
- New Mexico is averaging 85.5 points per game and holding opponents to 73.3.
- Donovan Dent leads the Lobos in scoring with 102 total points, averaging 17 points per game.
- Nelly Joseph has recorded 14 blocks this season and is New Mexico's second leading scorer at 14.2 points per game.
- The Lobos' only loss of the season came on Nov. 17 as New Mexico lost 85-71 to St. John.
- The Lobos won the programs first Mountain West Championshio and earned an NCAA berth for the first time in a decade in 2023-24.
- USC is 7-6 all-time against New Mexico, most recently beating the Lobos 90-82 in 2016.

NEW LOOK TROJANS -- The new look USC 2024-25 squad consists of 17 new faces and two returning members of last year's team - including 11 recruited from the transfer portal.

MUSSELMAN AT THE HELM:
Eric Musselman was named the USC Men's Basketball Head Coach, Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics Jennifer Cohen announced on April 4, 2024.

Eric Musselman, 59, is a proven winner who has excelled at both the collegiate and professional levels, most recently at Arkansas where he led the Razorbacks to a 111-59 record in five seasons as the leader of the program. The 111 wins in that stretch were the 13th-most 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 has compiled a 221-93 record for a 70.4 winning percentage. Musselman has the 10th-best winning percentage of all active Division I coaches who have coached at least nine seasons. Musselman has over 30 years of coaching experience, including 22 years as a professional and collegiate head coach.

NEW HEIGHTS -- USC has eight players listed on the roster which are 6-7 or taller. USC's average height per player is 78.5" or 6'54"which ranks 20th in the country, according to Kenpom.com. The Trojans are also the fourth tallest team on average in the Big Ten.

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 on average this season. Against Idaho State, Cohen led USC in scoring with 19 points and shot 66.7% from the field in 29 minutes played.

SAINT SHARES -- Saint Thomas has tallied 33 assists through six games as a Trojan. Against Idaho State, Thomas recorded nine first half assists. He's currently averaging 5.5 assists per game in 33.6 minutes (avg.).

USC CAN SCORE -- Through six games, Desmond Claude has tallied 77 points through six games and is averaging 12.8 points per game. Terrance Williams II leads USC in points per game (avg.) at 13.3 through four games played.

As a squad, USC has scored 75 or more points in five of it's six opening contests.

OH HOW THE TABLES TURN -- The Trojans have forced 83 turnovers, while committing 59 through six games (+4 margin).

USC is also averaging 13.5 points per game off of turnovers.

MAGICAL BOTH WAYS -- Since the 2019 season, USC owns a 86-18 record when it scores 70 or more points.

A HISTORY OF WINNING -- USC has compiled a record of 1,717-1,263* in its 118 years of intercollegiate basketball competition. USC has had a .500 or better record in 83 of its first 118 seasons. * 21 wins and one loss in 2007-08 vacated 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 Nov. 16, 2006. USC is also 109-26 in nonconference games at the Galen Center.

HOME STAND -- USC played six-straight home games to open the 2024-25 campaign before traveling to the Palm Desert this week for the Acrisure Thanksgiving Classic. The Trojans are set to travel out of the state just once in 2024 - a conference trip to Washington on Dec. 7.

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Players Mentioned

Desmond Claude

Josh Cohen

Saint Thomas

Terrance Williams II