USC-Long Beach State Preview
December 28, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2000
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
LOS ANGELES - Southern California tries to avoid its first losing streak of the season as it plays host to Long Beach State on Saturday.
The No. 16 Trojans (9-2) fell behind 15-0 and went on to lose 63-61 at Northwestern on Wednesday. David Bluthenthal scored 17 points for Southern California after being benched for the start of the game. Leading-scorer Brian Scalabrine played just 16 minutes due to the flu and finished with only six points.
"We didn't come out to play tonight," USC coach Henry Bibby said, refusing to use Scalabrine's illness as an excuse. "We played a very patient team tonight. You don't get back on an opposing team when they're up 15-0 and on their home court."
However, there is some good news for the Trojans, who are expected to have guard Jeff Trepagnier, who averaged 15.9 points and 6.6 rebounds last season, back in the lineup for the first time this season.
Scalabrine still leads the team in scoring at 17.1 points, closely followed by Sam Clancy (16.8), Bluthenthal (15.6) and Brandon Granville (13.8).
Long Beach State has won four straight games, including an 83-76 victory over Texas A&M on Dec. 22. Ramel Lloyd scored 23 points while former UCLA transfer Travis Reed added 20 and 10 rebounds for the 49ers, who erased a 13-point lead in the final 11:05.
Brad Smith hit three key 3-pointers during the rally as the 49ers shot just 5-for-20 on 3s. The 49ers are 4-1 when scoring at least 80 points.
Lloyd is averaging a team-best 20.6 points while Reed is adding 12.2 and 7.4 rebounds.
The 49ers are 0-1 against ranked opponents this season, losing 86-63 to then-No. 4 Stanford on Dec. 2.
Long Beach State leads the all-time series 5-4 and posted a 76-66 victory at home last season. USC, though, won 74-48 at home the previous season.
