USC Battles Monmouth Monday At Galen
November 14, 2015 | Men's Basketball
The USC Trojans (1-0) will host the Monmouth Hawks (1-0) at the Galen Center on November 16 at 7:00 p.m. The game will air on Pac-12 Los Angeles, TuneIn Radio, Sirius Radio channel 137 and XM Radio channel 197.
USC HOSTS MONMOUTH IN FIRST-EVER MEETING -- The Monmouth Hawks remain in Los Angeles for a game on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Galen Center. The Hawks are coming off an 84-81 overtime victory over UCLA on Nov. 13. Collin Stewart led the Hawks with 19 points in the opener and Monmouth forced 23 turnovers by the Bruins. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools, but they are both in the AdvoCare Invitational, so a rematch is possible in Orlanado, Fla. on Nov. 29 as the teams are in separate brackets. Monmouth went 18-15 during the 2014-15 season and tied for third in the Metro Atlantic Conference. They return three starters including junior guard Justin Robinson (13.4 ppg) and senior guard Deon Jones (12.8 ppg).
TROJANS ROLL OVER SAN DIEGO IN OPENER -- USC defeated San Diego 83-45 at the Galen Center on November 13 in the season opener for both schools. Jordan McLaughlin led USC with 20 points and Elijah Stewart had 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. USC used all 12 players and 10 of them scored and 10 played 12 or more minutes. The 38-point win was USC's largest margin of victory since defeating UC Riverside 70-26 on Dec. 15, 2012. The 45 points allowed were the fewest by USC in a season opener since defeating Missouri 56-43 to start the 1961-62 season. USC improved to 17-4 in its last 21 home openers.
USC ENJOYS TRIP TO ITALY - USC returned from its Tour of Italy (Aug. 11-22) with a perfect 4-0 record, excitement for the 2015-16 season and with a memorable cultural experience. Along the way, USC visited Lake Como, Milan, Venice, the Adriatic Coast and Rome, while experiencing the marvel of such places as Bellagio, the Sforza Castle, St. Mark's Square, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Ferrari Museum. In going undefeated on the trip, USC averaged 107 points per game, while shooting 53.5 percent from the floor, 34.0 percent from three-point range and 71.2 percent from the free throw line. Six players averaged in double-figures, five players averaged at least 5.0 rebounds per game.
NEW MEXICO ON DECK – The New Mexico Lobos will arrive at the Galen Center for a game on Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Los Angeles. It will be the fourth game between the two teams since the 2011-12 season. The all-time series is tied at 6-6, as USC won 66-54 at New Mexico on Nov. 30 last season. At the time, it was just the 14th loss in 131 home games in the past eight seasons for the Lobos. The two teams last met at the Galen Center on Dec. 10, 2011 which was a 44-41 win for New Mexico. The Lobos were 15-16 last season and return three starters from that team, including redshirt sophomore guard Cullen Neal who averaged 17.0 points before suffering a season-ending injury. New Mexico defeated Texas Southern 86-57 in its opener and will play Loyola (Ill.) at home and New Mexico State on the road before facing USC.
STRONG IN THE CLASSROOM - Last spring the men's basketball team set the USC record for grade-point average by the basketball roster, then during the summer it established the summer-session GPA record for the basketball program.
BETTER BE READY TO ROLL -- USC is 1-0 in a stretch of seven games in 17 days to start the season. After tonight, USC will also have home games on Nov. 21 vs. New Mexico and Nov. 23 vs. CSUN, as well as three games at the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Fla. on Nov. 26 vs. Wichita State, on Nov. 27 vs. Alabama or Xavier and on Nov. 29 vs. TDB.
TALL AND TALENTED FRESHMAN TANDEM -- USC's freshman class is comprised of forwards Bennie Boatwright and Chimezie Metu. Boatwright is 6-10 and averaged 27.8 points and 13 rebounds for Village Christian HS, en route to being named the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA Player of the Year. Metu is 6-11 and averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds for Lawndale HS, to earn the CIF Southern Section Division II Player of the Year.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN -- There are a total of 14 players on the 2015-16 USC men's basketball roster. The Trojan team by class are: Seniors (1): Strahinja Gavrilovic (F); Juniors (6): Darion Clark (F), Samer Dhillon (F), Julian Jacobs (G), Nikola Jovanovic (F), Kurt Karis (G) and Katin Reinhardt (G); Sophomores (5): Shaqquan Aaron (G), Malik Marquetti (G), Malik Martin (F), Jordan McLaughlin (G) and Elijah Stewart (G); Freshmen (2): Bennie Boatwright (F) and Chimezie Metu (F). Karis and Aaron are transfers and will sit out the 2015-16 season.
USC's ROSTER FEATURES YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCE - Despite a roster with just one senior, USC has eight players that have started at least 15 games. USC's top nine scorers and any player who started at least one game last season is back for the 2015-16 season.
COMPARING ROSTERS - Last season the Trojans had the youngest roster among the Power 5 conferences and the fourth-youngest roster among all Division I schools according to Statsheet.com, with no seniors and just three juniors. USC entered the 2014-15 season with a total of 52 starts as Trojans, whereas the 2015-16 roster enters this season with 209 starts in the Trojan uniform.
TROJANS TO PLAY AT ADVOCARE INVITATIONAL - USC will be playing in the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Fla. from Nov. 26-29. USC's first-round opponent in the tournament on Nov. 26 will be Wichita State of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Shockers went 30-5 last season, won their league and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. They return three starters and nine lettermen from that team, including guards Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker. The second-round game on Nov. 27 will be against either Alabama or Xavier, with the final game on Nov. 29 being played against an opponent from this group: Dayton, Iowa, Monmouth and Notre Dame.
