No. 24/No. 25 USC To Host Troy Saturday
December 15, 2016 | Men's Basketball
The USC Trojans (9-0) will host the Troy Trojans (6-4) at the Galen Center on Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. USC's 9-0 start is its best since the 1971 team began 16-0 on the way to a 24-2 record.
BREAKING DOWN TROY -- Troy (6-4) is coming off a 114-52 win vs. Point University on Dec. 14 and has won three consecutive games, having defeated Alabama State (83-65) on Dec. 4 and Alabama A&M (88-59) on Dec. 10. Troy went 9-22 last season, but returned four starters from that team. Jordon Varnado (15.7) and Wesley Person (13.3) are leading the Trojans in scoring. This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools USC TAMES THE WAVES -- Elijah Stewart scored 26 points with a career-high seven three-pointers and USC set a school single-game record with 14 blocks, as it cruised to a 93-67 win over Pepperdine at the Galen Center on Dec. 11. Jordan McLaughlin added 18 points and made all seven of his shots, while Chimezie Metu had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Rakocevic and Shaqquan Aaron added 13 apiece for the Trojans. USC ran out to an 11-2 lead and never looked back. The Trojans led 48-30 at halftime after shooting 53.3 percent from the field. USC shot even better in the second half at 60.9 percent to keep the Waves at bay. While USC made 56.6 percent of its shots, it held Pepperdine to 38.2 percent.
CORNELL ON DECK -- USC's next game will be when it hosts the Cornell Big Red (2-5) on Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Cornell has been off since defeating Northeastern 80-77 on Nov. 30 and will play at Wyoming on Dec. 17 before facing USC. Cornell has three players averaging double figures in scoring led by sophomore guard Matt Morgan who has scored 19.0 per game. USC won the only other meeting between the two schools, a 77-58 victory on Dec. 28, 1954.
AND THEN THERE WERE SIX... -- USC is one of six Division I schools (out of 351) which is still undefeated this season through games of Dec. 14.
LONG-RANGE SNIPER STEWART -- Junior guard Elijah Stewart made a career-high seven three-point baskets vs. Pepperdine on Dec. 11 to tie for fourth on USC's single-game three-point baskets made list. He has now made at least one shot from beyond the arc in 16 consecutive games dating back to last season. His career total of 124 three-pointers made is tied for 12th on USC's all-time list with Dwayne Hackett, nine behind Anthony Pendleton who is 11th with 133. Stewart leads USC with a 17.1 ppg average and with 27 three-point baskets, while ranking second in rebounds (52), blocks (14) and free throws made (25). He has also scored in double figures in eight of nine games this season, with a high of 30 points.
TORCHING THE TWINE -- After beginning the season making 38.0 percent of its shots and 24.7 from three-point range in the first three games, the Trojans have heated up. In the last six games, USC is shooing 50.7 percent from the floor (180-for-355), including 41.8 percent from three-point range (61-for-146).
USC'S BLOCK EXCHANGE -- USC set a school record for blocks in a game with 14 vs. Pepperdine on Dec. 11. USC is averaging 6.4 blocks per game which ranks 11th in the country and if they continued the pace would break last season's school record total of 188. Four different Trojans have at least eight blocks in USC's first nine games: Metu (18), Stewart (14), Melton (8) and Rakocevic (8).
PRECISION FROM THE POINT -- Junior point guard Jordan McLaughlin has efficiently led the USC offense while averaging 12.6 points 3.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He is also making 56.9 percent of his shots (41-for-72), including 7-for-7 vs. Pepperdine on Dec. 11. He ranks third among Pac-12 players with 45 assists and with a 2.5 assist to turnover ratio through games on Dec. 14. In the last six games, McLaughlin has 33 assists and 10 turnovers.
SECOND TO NONE -- USC scored 53 points in the second half against UCSB on Nov. 27, 52 in the second half against BYU on Dec. 3 and has averaged 44.7 points (402 total) after the break this season. USC's opponents have averaged 35.8 points (322 total) in the second half against the Trojans. USC has won or tied in second-half scoring in every game this season.
BALANCE WITH THE BALL -- Eight different Trojans have scored at least 13 points in a game this season and six are averaging at least 9.4 points per game.
METU CONTINUES HIS RISE -- Sophomore Chimezie Metu scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds vs. Pepperdine on Dec. 11 for his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career. He is averaging 12.3 points and 8.0 rebounds and leads the team with 18 blocks, 16 dunks and second on the team with 11 steals. He has been a consistent force for the Trojans with double-figures in points and six or more rebounds in seven of the nine games this season.
DE'ANTHONY DOING IT ALL -- Freshman guard De'Anthony Melton scored 12 points, had eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in the win at BYU on Dec. 3 and leads all Pac-12 Conference players with 22 steals. He has at least two steals in seven of nine games and his 2.44 steals per game average ranks tied for 16th in the country through games of Dec. 14. Melton is averaging 9.4 points and 5.6 rebounds, while ranking second on the team with 34 assists.
THE YOUNG WILL LEAD -- USC's roster has only one scholarship senior and two scholarship juniors and 64.5 percent of the minutes played this season (1161 of 1800 minutes) has been by freshmen or sophomores.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE -- USC has held the opposition to 66.8 points per game and to a .388 shooting percentage. USC has held six of its opponents to under 40 percent shooting and only two over 41.5 percent (UCSB 45.5 percent & BYU 43.5). USC has also only had one game in which it has had more fouls than its opponent (23-22 vs. SMU).
