No. 10/No. 11 USC Will Play At Vanderbilt In First Road Contest Of Season

The No. 10/No. 11 USC Trojans (2-0) will play the Vanderbilt Commodores (1-1) at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn. on Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. PT. The game will be USC's first road game of the season and first at Vanderbilt since December 5, 1975.

THE 2017-18 USC TROJANS -- USC enters the 2017-18 season with high expectations coming off consecutive NCAA Tourney appearances, a school-record 26 wins and returning virtually its entire roster. USC's top eight scorers from last year's team are back and are joined by Duke transfer guard Derryck Thornton and three highly-touted freshman in guard Charles O'Bannon Jr., wing Jordan Usher and forward Victor Uyaelunmo. The Trojans picked up their record-setting 26th win with their 66-65 victory over No. 11 SMU in the NCAA Tournament. USC won two games in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2007 season and its 47 total wins over the past two seasons are also the most by the Trojans in consecutive seasons. USC also set school records with most points scored (2,816), three-point baskets made (283), blocked shots (190) and assists (550).

USC BEATS NDSU WITH LATE SURGE -- USC trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half and by five points with 9:28 remaining, before closing on a 24-9 run to defeat North Dakota State 75-65 at the Galen Center on Nov. 13. Bennie Boatwright led four Trojans in double figures with a career-high 28 points. USC outscored NDSU 42-22 on points in the paint, but was outscored 37-5 on bench points. It was USC's 20th consecutive home win against a nonconference opponent.

BREAKING DOWN THE COMMODORES -- Vanderbilt (1-1) opened with a 73-54 home win over Austin Peay on Nov. 10 and then lost 69-60 at Belmont on Nov. 13. The Commodores will host UNC-Asheville on Nov. 17 before facing USC. Vanderbilt returns eight lettermen and three of its top four scorers from last season's team which advanced to the NCAA Tourney for the second consecutive year. Vanderbilt has won 78.1 percent of its games all-time at its historic Memorial Gymnasium and is 207-24 (89.6 percent) all time in the building versus nonconference foes. USC is 4-1 all-time against Vanderbilt, winning the last game 77-72 at Vanderbilt in 1975.

LEHIGH ON DECK -- USC will host Lehigh (1-1) at the Galen Center on Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. Lehigh won 84-76 at Marist on Nov. 11 and lost 80-72 at home vs. Monmouth and will Siena on Nov. 17 and Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 19 before facing USC. Lehigh was 20-12 last season and finished second in the Patriot Legue. Five Lehigh players are averaging double figures in points through two games. USC is 1-0 all-time against the Mountain Hawks, winning 76-49 on Dec. 23, 2010.

MEMORY LANE FOR MARTIN -- USC assistant coach Martin Bahar graduated with a double-major in Communications and Spanish from Vanderbilt in 2006. He was an undergraduate manager for the basketball team while at Vanderbilt. Bahar was hired by USC as the director or scouting in July of 2015 and assumed assistant coach duties in September of 2017.

USC's ROSTER FEATURES RARE PAIR OF 4-YEAR SENIORS - In senior guards Jordan McLaughlin and Elijah Stewart, USC has its first pair of four-year scholarship seniors since the 2004-05 season when it had five. The seniors on the 2004-05 roster were guards Derrick and Errick Craven, forward Nick Curtis, center Rory O'Neil and forward Gregg Guenther, who was at USC on a football scholarship.

TROJANS HIGHEST PRESEASON RANKING SINCE 1974 -- The USC men's basketball team was ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press (AP) preseason poll on Nov. 1. It marks the highest preseason ranking for the Trojan men's basketball team since the 1974-75 season. It is also the highest ranking at any point for the Trojans since finishing the 1991-92 season at No. 8. The Trojans also were ranked No. 11 in the USA/TODAY Coaches preseason poll and are listed as No. 6 in the ESPN Power Index. USC was ranked five weeks in the 2016-17 AP poll, with a highest ranking of No. 22 on Dec. 26.

ADJUSTING TO THE ROAD -- USC was 6-5 in road games last season, including 2-0 in nonconference road games. USC has won its last six nonconference road games, last losing on the road at Long Beach State on Dec. 19, 2013. Prior to this winning streak, USC had lost its previous six nonconferenc road games.

STEWART CLOSING IN ON 1,000 CAREER POINTS -- USC senior guard Elijah Stewart scored a total of 16 points in USC's first two games and enters Sunday's game with 997 career points. Stewart made 3 three-pointers this season to give him 178 career three-point makes, fifth on USC's all-time list and one behind Gabe Pruitt who is fourth with 179 career three-point baskets made. Stewart has also played 104 consecutive games, the most of any player in the Pac-12.

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Players Mentioned

Bennie Boatwright

Jordan McLaughlin

Elijah Stewart

Derryck Thornton

Jordan Usher

Victor Uyaelunmo