USC
San Diego
USC beats San Diego 83-45
November 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES (AP)- Jordan McLaughlin scored 20, Elijah Stewart added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and USC cruised to an 83-45 victory over San Diego in the season opener for both teams on Friday night.
McLaughlin made 8 of 12, including two 3-pointers. Stewart shot 6 of 9 and recorded his first career double-double.
USC went on a 15-3 run midway through the first half to build a comfortable advantage. Nikola Jovanovic's basket capped the Trojans surge and gave USC a 25-9 lead with 9:13 to play in the first half.
USC's defense caused problems for San Diego in the first half, blocking seven shots and limiting the Toreros to 6-of-29 shooting (20.7 percent).
The Trojans extended its all-time record over the Toreros to 4-0.
USC continued its aggressive attack in the opening half. Malik Marquetti's back-to-back baskets upped the Trojans lead to 36-13 and Stewart's free throw gave the Trojans its largest lead of the opening half at 37-13 with 3:00 to play.
McLaughlin had nine points and three blocked shots in the opening 20 minutes.
Julian Jacobs scored 11 points and had seven rebounds and freshman Bennie Boatwright added 10 points for USC.
Boatwright's 3-pointer extended the Trojans lead to 56-23 with 13:47 to play. The Toreros never got into an offensive rhythm throughout the game and didn't get any closer than 20 points in the second half, spoiling head coach Lamont Smith's debut.
TIP-INS
USC: The Trojans have won 17 of their last 21 home openers.
UP NEXT
USC hosts Monmouth on Wednesday.
NEWCOMERS
The Trojans have two highly-touted freshmen on their roster who are expected to have an immediate impact. Bennie Boatwright averaged 27.8 points and 13 rebounds for Sun Valley, California Village Christian High School and was named the CIF Division 1AA Player of the Year. Chimezie Metu averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds for Lawndale (California) High School and was the CIF Division II Player of the Year.
