USC Men's Basketball continues its home opener against UT Arlington on Wednesday

Men's Basketball | November 12, 2024

LOS ANGELES – USC men's basketball continues its six home games this week with a Wednesday night contest against the UT Arlington Mavericks on Nov. 13 at the Galen Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. PT.

MATCH REPORTS
STREAM: Big Ten Network (8:00 p.m. PT)
RADIO: ESPN LA APP or USCtrojans.com/listen & USC Gameday App

Trojans with a new look — The revamped 2024-25 USC roster features 16 new faces and two returning members of last year's team — including 11 recruited through the transfer portal.



MUSSELMAN AT THE CONTROLS: Eric Musselman has been named USC men's basketball head coach on April 4, 2024, Charles Griffin Cale Athletics Director Jennifer Cohen announced.



Eric MusselmanThe 59-year-old is a proven winner who has excelled at both the college and professional levels, most recently at Arkansas, where he led the Razorbacks to a 111-59 record in five seasons as the program's leader. The 111 wins during that span were 13th 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 compiled a record of 221-93 with a winning percentage of 70.4. Musselman has the 10th-best winning percentage of any active Division I coach who has coached for at least nine seasons. Musselman has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including 22 years as a professional and collegiate head coach.



A STORY OF WINNING – USC has compiled a record of 1,714-1,262* in its 118 years of intercollegiate basketball competition. USC had a record of .500 or better in 83 of its first 118 seasons. * 21 wins and one loss in 2007-08 season overturned due to NCAA penalty, original record: 1,733-1,260.



Magical in both directions – Since the 2019 season, USC holds a record of 83-18 when scoring 70 or more points.



THE GALEN ADVANTAGE – USC is 213-84 at the Galen Center since it opened on Nov. 16, 2006. USC is also 106-25 in non-conference games at the Galen Center.



TRANSMISSION TROJAN – The Trojans are the most experienced Power 5 team in college basketball in terms of minutes played per game last season (327.6). The Trojans transfer class combined to average nearly 150 points per game last season – the highest point total of any transfer class in the country.


USC added transfer talent from Michigan, Xavier, Yale, Northern Colorado/Illinois Chicago, UC San Diego, Texas Tech/Boise State, Washington, Bowling Green/Casper College/New Mexico State and Penn.



USC – HISTORY OF THE UTA SERIES – USC and UT Arlington will face off for the first time in program history on Wednesday, November 13th.



UT ARLINGTON (1-1) SCOUTING REPORT —
– UT Arlington men's basketball was selected by the WAC league's head coaches to finish second in the 2024-25 season.
– UT Arlington defeated UNT Dallas (90-55) to open the season on Nov. 4 before falling to Louisiana Tech (92-77) on Nov. 9.
-Four UTA Mavericks finished Saturday's game against LA Tech in double figures, marking the second straight game ever.
– Senior forward Troy Hupstead reached the 20-point mark for the seventh time in his career on Saturday against LA Tech.
– UTA has 11 new faces who joined the program through the transfer portal, and eight of them have already made their debuts.
– Guard Jaden Wells has 315 career 3-pointers, second among active NCAA players.
– The Mavs are coming off a season in which they won 20 games under Turner in his first season at the helm, culminating in a berth in the WAC Championship Game.
– UTA returns two key contributors in senior guard Brandyn Talbot and secondary guard Kade Douglas.
– Some key names that have joined the Mavs include forward/center Lance Ware (Villanova), forwards Raysean Seamster (Eastern Arizona), Troy Hupstead (Maryland Eastern Shore) and Diante Smith (Nicholls), as well as guards Jaden Wells (Oklahoma Christian). , Brody Robinson (Garden City CC) and Darius Burford (Illinois State).



NEW HEIGHTS – USC has eight players on the roster who are 6-7 or taller. According to Kenpom.com, USC's average height per player is 6'54″, which ranks 28th among all schools, according to Kenpom.com. The Trojans are also the fifth tallest team in the Big Ten on average.



COHEN'S CORNER – Through two games, #33 Josh Cohen is averaging 11.5 points per game and four rebounds. Against Idaho State, Cohen led USC with 19 points and shot 66.7% from the field in 29 minutes played.



HOLY STOCKS — Trojans Saint Thomas has 13 assists in two games as a Trojan. Against Idaho State, Thomas recorded nine assists in the first half.



POWERFUL MEN – Trojans Chibuzo Agbo and Saint Tomas rank fifth overall in percentage (81.2%) of minutes played among Big Ten Conference players.



PRE-SEASON REVIEW – USC went 2-0 in preseason exhibition play, beating UTSA 84-63 on Oct. 15 and No. 6 Gonzaga 96-93 on Oct. 26.


Against UTSA at the Galen Center, USC's Saint Thomas led the team with 21 points and two assists. Trojans Desmond Claude And Josh Cohen They also reached double figures, with Claude scoring 14 points and Cohen contributing 10. In the exhibition game, the Trojan defense held UTSA to just 38.7 percent shooting from the floor, while USC shot at 54.9 percent on the day. As a team, Troy also recorded four blocks, six steals and outscored the Roadrunners in rebounding 40-26.


Against the Zags, USC led for nearly 30 minutes of the game, outscoring Gonzaga 34-32 and blocking five shots. USC, which won the contest 38-32, also held the Zags to just 40.9% from threes as the Zags were 9-22. Five Trojans reached double figures during the exhibition, led by Williams with 20 points. Chibuzo Agbo scored 15 points for Troy and led USC in rebounding with seven. Desmond Claude, Josh Cohen And Matt Knowling He also reached double figures on Saturday, with Claude scoring 19 points and Cohen and Knowling contributing 13 each.



THE PLATO BE CE.
The University of Southern California is the undeniable, unmatched and undisputed top destination for student-athletes. USC is both the site of 136 national team championships and one of the leading private research institutions in the world. The company is located in the heart of the thriving Los Angeles metropolitan area, one of the most diverse and visible media markets in the world. The USC campus is located just a few minutes' drive from the beautiful beaches of Southern California, the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range, the sprawling splendor of the Redwood and Sequoia National Forests, and the mysterious Mojave Desert. The student-athlete experience at USC is truly second to none.