No. 21 USC Men’s Basketball Outlasts Wichita State

Sunday, November 8

Stateline, Nev.

8:00 p.m. PT

USC

2-0,0-0Big Ten

Wichita State

1-1,0-0American

Team	1	2	F
Wichita St.	45	41	86
Southern California	43	50	93

Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas high five during a game against Wichita State

Photo by: John McGillen

November 08, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas set new career highs with 32 and 30 points, respectively.

STATELINE, Nev. — Competing in a close, physical battle, the No. 21 USC Men's Basketball team outlasted Wichita State 93-86 in the Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic, held in the Tahoe Blue Arena in Stateline, Nev. on Sunday night.

Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas set new career highs with 32 and 30 points, respectively, to give the Trojans (2-0) two 30-point scorers in the same game for the second time in program history. Defensively, the Trojans forced 20 Shocker (1-1) turnovers while committing just 10 of their own. In a game where both teams combined for 56 fouls, the Trojans went 88.1% (37-for-42) at the charity stripe, while the Shockers connected on just 69.4% (25-for-36) of their attempts.

In a physical, chippy first half, the Trojans jumped out to an early 9-3 behind five points from Rice. With Wichita State starting the game going 2-for-10 from the field, USC took its largest lead of the night with 13:15 to play thanks to seven consecutive points from Arenas and a layup from Jacob Cofie.

However, the Shockers rattled off a 6-0 run over the next 32 seconds and eventually tied the game at 20 on their third made three of the half. Wichita State's hot shooting from beyond the arc continued throughout the half, as they connected on 58.3% of their three-point attempts to eventually build an 11-point lead.

Yet with less than four minutes to play in the first half, the Trojans came back by going on a 9-0 run to make it a 41-39 ballgame with 1 minute and 19 seconds to play. USC would eventually tie the game at 43 with four free throws down the stretch before Wichita State's Jordan Frison made a layup at the buzzer to go up 45-43 heading into halftime.

Rice would not be denied to start the second half. The senior point guard went on a personal 7-0 run to put USC up five before the Shockers could get on the board.

But the play of KJ Lewis turned the tide of the game thanks to making plays on both ends of the floor. His steal with 12:07 to go led him to split a one-and-one to give USC a one-point lead, then on the next possession he corralled an Adonis Ratliff miss for a layup. After getting fouled diving for a loose ball with 9:20 to go, his pair of free throws put USC up 66-62.

Tied at 66 with eight minutes to play, USC pulled away for good with a 7-0 run with Darius Ratliff banking in a three on the left wing, then back-to-back baskets from Arenas. Wichita State went scoreless for nearly two minutes and would make just four more field goals in the final 5 minutes and 43 seconds.

Although Wichita State pulled within three on four separate occasions, the Rice responded for the Trojans. He scored nine points in the final five minutes and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line late, while as a team, USC went 8-for-9 from the free-throw line to seal the win.

Wichita State had four players finish in double figures, led by William Berg and Jordan Frison, who had 17 points apiece.

USC wraps up the two-game road trip at California on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. PT. All pertinent information will be on the men's basketball team's schedule page on usctrojans.com.

NOTES

USC's starting lineup was Rodney Rice, Alijah Arenas, Jacob Cofie, Adonis Ratliff and Darius Ratliff. This lineup is 2-0 on the season.
USC is 4-1 against Wichita State and Head Coach Eric Musselman is now 1-1 against the Shockers.
Rodney Rice scored a career-high 32 points, including 17 from the free-throw line, both of which were career highs. He tied his season high with nine assists.
Alijah Arenas finished with a career-high 30 points on 9-for-18 shooting. His 12 made free throws tied his career high.
Tonight marked the first time USC has had two 30-point scorers in a win and the second time in program history. The last time this feat occurred was in a 98-94 triple overtime triple-overtime loss to Colorado on Jan. 29, 2015.
Adonis Ratliff recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. He also added two steals and a block.
After going 7-for-12 from beyond the arc in the first half, USC held Wichita State to shooting just 28.6% (2-for-7) from three in the second half.
Nine of the 11 Trojans who checked into the game scored.
Wichita State committed 20 turnovers after committing just three turnovers in its season opener. The last time Wichita State committed 20 or more turnovers was Jan. 23, 2025.