University Southern California Trojans
USC Hosts UC Irvine Saturday At Galen In Season Opener
November 11, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2010
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The USC Trojans will host UC Irvine (0-1) in the season and home opener on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at the Galen Center. The game will be carried on KGIL 1260 AM and can be watched live at USCTrojans.com. USC is 12-3 in its last 15 home openers.
BREAKING DOWN THE ANTEATERS -- UC Irvine went 14-18 in 2009-10 and tied for seventh in the Big West conference. New head coach Russell Turner inherits a club which features 12 returning lettermen, including All-Big West second team junior forward Eric Wise. Wise was fourth in scoring (16.3) and eighth in rebounding (6.5) among Big West players. The Trojans lead the all-time series vs. the Anteaters, 5-1. The teams last met in the season-opener on Nov. 15, 2008 and USC won 78-55. UC Irvine opened the season on Nov. 8 at Illinois and lost 79-65 despite 18 points from senior guard Darren Moore.
TROJANS IN HOME OPENERS -- USC defeated UC Riverside 77-67 in the season and home opener last season, its second consecutive opening win after losing the previous three seasons. USC has opened at home the last six seasons and is 3-3 in those games, with two of the wins coming against UC Irvine. USC is 41-9 in its last 50 home openers, winnng 12 of the last 15 and is 71-33 in season openers.
SANTA CLARA ON DECK -- The Trojans' second game will be vs. Santa Clara on Nov. 15 at the Galen Center. Santa Clara went 11-21 last season, but returns all five starters and 12 lettermen. Even though Santa Clara and USC are in the same state, it is still one of the longest road trips of the season for the Broncos as they will play 28 of 32 games in the state of California. Santa Clara was picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll. The Broncos leading returning scorer is redshirt sophomore guard Kevin Foster who scored 19.8 points per game as a freshman and earned freshman All-America accolades. Santa Clara is coached by former UCLA assistant Kerry Keating. USC is 19-8 all-time vs. Santa Clara, but lost the last meeting 74-54 on Dec. 2, 1983. The Broncos open their season hosting CS Bakersfield on Nov. 12.
THE 2010-11 TROJANS -- USC returns two starters from last year's team which went 16-14 and tied for fifth in the Pac-10. Leading the way are forwards Nikola Vucevic (10.7 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and Alex Stepheson (8.4 ppg., 7.2 rpg), the top two returning rebounders in the conference. Veteran guards Donte Smith and Marcus Simmons will be joined in the backcourt by transfer Jio Fontan (eligible after 1st semester) and freshmen Maurice Jones and Bryce Jones. Freshmen Garrett Jackson and Curtis Washington, along with sophomore Evan Smith are expected to provide depth and fight for playing time at the forward position.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN -- There are 15 players on the 2010-11 USC men's basketball roster, including four walk-ons (James Dunleavy, Daniel Munoz, Eric Strangis and Tyler Sugiyama) and one player (Aaron Fuller) who will not be eligible until the 2011-12 season due to transfer rules. The Trojan team by class: Seniors (4): Dunleavy (Rs. Jr.-eligibility), Donte Smith, Marcus Simmons, Alex Stepheson, Juniors (4): Jio Fontan, Nikola Vucevic, Fuller, Strangis, Sophomores (3): Evan Smith, Daniel Munoz, Tyler Sugiyama (Rs. Fr.--eligibility), Freshmen (4): Garrett Jackson, Bryce Jones, Maurice Jones, Curtis Washington.
VUCEVIC SELECTED TO WOODEN WATCH LIST -- USC junior forward Nikola Vucevic was one of 50 players named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List, it was announced on Oct. 4 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who, based on last year's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious individual honor. Vucevic had a breakout 2009-10 season scoring 10.7 points and grabbing 9.4 rebounds per game to earn the Pac-10 Most Improved Player Award. He led the Pac-10 with 283 rebounds and became the first Trojan to lead the conference in rebounding since Jaha Wilson in 1995.
FACING THE BEST -- USC's 2010-11 schedule features 21 of 31 games against teams which finished the 2009-10 season with a record of .500 or better. Among the nonconference highlights are games against perennial national powers: at Kansas on Dec. 18, at Tennessee on Dec. 21 and a home game vs. Texas on Dec. 5.
NEW VOICE OF THE TROJANS -- Chris Fisher, 25, begins his first season of broadcasting USC men's basketball games on flagship station 710 ESPN Radio. He teams with 14-year USC color analyst Jim Hefner to call every USC men's basketball game. Fisher, a USC graduate, has spent the past three years broadcasting minor league baseball and also has called sporting events on USC's website and campus radio station. Fisher will be taking over for the late Rory Markas who called Trojan basketball games for the previous 12 seasons.
PAC-10 PREDICTIONS -- USC was picked to finish 6th in 2010-11 in the Pac-10 Conference in a vote by the league media. Washington was picked 1st, Arizona 2nd, UCLA 3rd, Arizona State 4th, Washington State 5th, California 7th, Oregon State 8th, Stanford 9th and Oregon 10th.
CARDINAL & GOLD RECAP -- Nikola Vucevic scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Cardinal team to a 39-29 victory in the annual Cardinal & Gold scrimmage held at the Galen Center on Oct. 23. The short scrimmage was broken up into four 4-minute quarters. Guard Donte Smith of the Gold team was high scorer, pouring in 20 points on 5-for-12 shooting, including hitting 4-for-8 from three-point range. Guard Marcus Simmons was second in scoring on the Cardinal team with eight points. He also had three assists, two rebounds and zero turnovers. He was followed in scoring by forward Alex Stepheson (7 points, 5 rebounds), freshman guard Maurice Jones (6 points, 3 assists, 0 turnovers) and freshman guard Bryce Jones (5 points, 1 assist).
USC DEFEATS PLNU IN EXHIBITION GAME -- USC jumped out to an early 22-point lead and cruised to a 69-49 exhibition victory over Point Loma Nazarene on Nov. 6 at the Galen Center before an estimated crowd of 1,500. Senior Alex Stepheson led USC with 19 points and junior Nikola Vucevic posted a double-double with 16-points and 16 rebounds. USC held Point Loma without a field goal in the first five minutes of the game to take an 11-1 lead and then freshman Bryce Jones came off the bench and hit three quick three-point baskets and added a fourth within a six minute stretch to open up a 29-7 lead. Jones finished the day with 17 points and three rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? -- USC has installed a Live Sports Radio Transmitter at Galen, which beginning Nov. 13 will allow fans to hear the live USC broadcast with no delay, inside Galen Center for the first time. Fans can buy the radios in person at football or basketball games, by logging on to LiveSportsRadio.com or by calling (877) 577-5711.
USC ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR NEW ATHLETIC BUILDING - On Oct. 30, USC athletic director Pat Haden announced plans for a new 110,000-square foot building that will house meeting rooms, coaches offices and a locker room for the football program, as well as an academic center, weight room, athletic training room and state-of-the-art digital media production facility for all of USC's 21 sports. It will be built directly west of Heritage Hall on the USC campus. Groundbreaking on the project is planned for January 2011 and construction will take about 18 months. The 2-story building will include a basement, and will feature a brick exterior that matches the architecture of most USC buildings. State-of-the-art technology will be included throughout the building. It will be located on the site of the current intramural field that is adjacent to Heritage Hall and the Galen Dining Center. That field will be relocated just south of its current spot, between this new building and Loker Track Stadium. Fundraising has begun for the $70 million project, which will include the cost of the building, a maintenance endowment, and renovation of vacated space in Heritage Hall.
