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Nick Rakocevic, Jonah Mathews Reach 1,000 Career Points as USC Handles South Dakota State, 84-66
November 12, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Features
Congratulations to senior captain @jonah_mathews4 on becoming the 41st member of USC's 1,000 points club! pic.twitter.com/VBmiHY6N8m
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) November 13, 2019
"To have it on the same night is something special," said Mathews, who has known Rakocevic since they were teenagers playing AAU ball.Congratulations to USC senior @nick_rakocevic1 on joining teammate @jonah_mathews4 in USC's 1,000 point club tonight! pic.twitter.com/RR0CTnBzTB
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) November 13, 2019
Rakocevic added, "It's something we're going to remember forever."
Trojans coach Andy Enfield couldn't recall having two players go over 1,000 points during his career.
"They have a chance to do something special this year as a team," he said.
It was another good game for their freshman teammate Onyeka Okongwu. He added 12 points and eight rebounds after notching double-doubles in his first two games for the Trojans (3-0).
The Jackrabbits (3-1) twice pulled within one point in the second half, both times on 3-pointers by Noah Freidel and Brandon Key. The second time the Trojans responded with 11 unanswered points to go up 56-44. Grad transfer Quinton Adlesh hit two 3-pointers and Okongwu had a three-point play.
"We knew going in they could beat us if we didn't play well," Enfield said. "To have a close game in the second half and have to fight through it was good for our team."Captain Quinton does it again!
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) November 13, 2019
Trojans use an 11-0 run to take a 56-44 lead over the Jackrabbits with 12:01 to go. https://t.co/TfdU3gbGsR
The Jacks weren't done.
They used a 12-3 run to close to 59-56, with four different players scoring, including five points from Baylor Scheierman.
The Trojans responded with their own 9-3 spurt, making seven of 10 free throws for a 68-59 lead.
Tray Buchanan's 3-pointer — the Jacks' fifth of the half — left them down by six.
"Kind of got to six there with about four and half to go and just kind of lost our minds," Jacks coach Eric Henderson said. "Had some fouls there, some silly fouls, just really we weren't ourselves. We were a little out of character and that's probably what was disappointing."
From there, USC pulled away to end the game on a 16-4 run. Mathews made two 3-pointers and the Trojans hit six free throws.
Douglas Wilson led the Jacks with 15 points and David Wingett added 10 before both fouled out.
"I felt like if we would just finish like two or three more possessions we would have been either ahead or just right there with them the whole game," Wilson said, "but I think once that last four minutes came we just shut down as a team."
BIG PICTURE
South Dakota State: The two-time defending Summit League regular season champions feature several new faces, having returned just 17 percent of their scoring from last season. The Jackrabbits were picked to finish fifth in the league.USC: The Trojans have faced challenges in each of their first three wins. They trailed at halftime in the first two and needed multiple rallies to put away the Jacks. Okongwu needs to avoid early fouls that have taken him out for chunks of time. Grad transfer Adlesh is proving to be a reliable 3-point shooter and steady presence on the floor.
BEHIND TIME
Mathews was late to class again, according to Enfield, so he didn't start. He's started just once in three games because of tardiness. Mathews had three points playing just over nine minutes in the first half. Adlesh started in Mathews' place.UP NEXT
USC: Visits Nevada on Saturday and its new coach Steve Alford, who was fired at UCLA last New Year's Eve. It's the Trojans' only road game among their first six. USC leads the series 2-1 but lost 73-61 last season.USC then returns to the Galen Center on Nov. 19 with a matchup against local foe Pepperdine. Click Here to purchase tickets to 2019-20 USC home games.
