USC Men's Basketball Open Season Against Kansas State In Las Vegas Monday

The No. 21 USC Trojans (0-0) will open the 2023-24 season facing the Kansas State Wildcats (0-0) in a Hall of Fame Series game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. The game will air on TNT with Spero Dedes, Grant Hill and Allie LaForce calling the action.

A LOOK AT LAST YEAR -- The Trojans went 22-11 during the 2022-23 season, including a 14-6 record in Pac-12 play which tied for second in the conference. USC also advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. It was the Trojans' fourth consecutive 20-win season, a school record for back-to-back 20-win seasons. The Trojans return leading scorer and All-Pac-12 guard Boogie Ellis and have added the No. 4 ranked recruiting class in the country, which includes the consensus No. 1 overall player, guard Isaiah Collier.

USC'S STELLAR STRETCH -- USC has won a school-record 95 games over the last four seasons (22 in 2020, 25 in 2021, 26 in 2022 and 22 in 2023). The four consecutive seasons of 20+ wins sets a school record for most consecutive 20-win seasons, breaking the mark of three consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins from 2016-18.

WINNING WAYS -- USC's 95 total wins the last four seasons are tied for sixth-most among all Power 6 basketball programs, trailing only Kansas (111), Baylor (104), Arizona (99), UCLA (99) and Duke (97). Also, USC's 182 wins the last eight seasons ranks tied for 14th among all Power 6 conference teams.

FACING KANSAS STATE -- The Kansas State Wildcats went 26-10 during the 2022-23 season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, beating Montana State, Kentucky and Michigan State along the way. The Wildcats return three starters (Nae'Quan Tomlin - 10.4 ppg, Cam Carter - 6.5 ppg and David N'Guessan - 6.4 ppg) and have added nine new players to the roster since last season. USC has a 1-4 all-time record against Kansas State, last playing the Wildcats on March 20, 2008 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (L, 67-80). Jerome Tang is the K-State head coach and he was named the 2023 Naismith Men's Coach of the Year.

GETTING THINGS STARTED -- USC lost 74-61 in its 2022-23 season opener at home against FGCU on Nov. 22, 2022. That lost snapped a seven-game home opener winning streak. USC is now 81-36 all-time in season openers. USC is opening up away from the Galen Center for the first time since the 2013-14 season when the Trojans lost 78-65 at Utah State. The last time USC opened the season with a neutral site game was an 82-77 loss vs. North Carolina on Nov. 27, 1987 in the first round of the Richmond Holiday Classic.

CSU BAKERSFIELD ON DECK FOR HOME OPENER -- USC will host CSU Bakersfield in its home opener at the Galen Center on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. USC is 22-5 in its last 27 home openers. CSU Bakersfield went 11-22 during the 2022-23 season. USC is 2-0 all-time against the Roadrunners, winning 90-75 in the last meeting on Nov. 25, 2018.

USC FIRST TO BRING IN BOTH MEN'S & WOMEN'S TOP RECRUIT -- Isaiah Collier was the consensus No. 1 men's basketball recruit for 2023 and JuJu Watkins the No. 1 women's recruit for 2023. It marks the first time that the top recruit on the men's and women's sides both selected to attend the same school in the same season. Also, both the USC men's and women's team are ranked No. 21 in the AP preseason poll, the first time both teams have been ranked in the AP preseason top 25.

ENFIELD MOVING UP THE USC ALL-TIME COACHING WINS LIST -- USC head coach Andy Enfield will begin his 11th season at USC and has compiled an 205-129 record in his first 10 seasons. He picked up his 200th win on Feb. 4, 2023 vs. Washington. Enfield's win total ranks fourth on USC's all-time wins list, trailing only Sam Barry (260), Forrest Twogood (251) and Bob Boyd (216). Including his two seasons as the head coach at FGCU (2012-13), Enfield has compiled a 246-157 record.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE -- USC held its opponent to under 40 percent shooting in 19 of its 33 games in the 2022-23 season. USC held its opponents to a 39.3 shooting percentage last season, 8th in the country. Over the last four seasons, USC's defense has held the opposition to 38.9 FG percentage, third in the country, tops among teams in the six basketball power conferences. USC held California to 27.7 percent shooting on Nov. 30 last season, lowest by an opponent since holding Stanford to a 25.4 shooting percentage on March 3, 2021. Only two times last season did an opponent shoot over 50 percent in a game. Also over the last four seasons, USC has held the opposition to a 42.4 shooting percentage on two-point field goals, best in the country.

RETURNING ALL-PAC-12 PLAYERS -- The Trojans have three returning players who received 2022-23 Pac-12 accolades. Boogie Ellis was named Pac-12 First Team and Kobe Johnson and Joshua Morgan were named to the All-Defensive Team.

LEADERS OF THE PAC -- The Trojans have a 54-24 record in Pac-12 games the last four seasons and are the only school to finish in the top three of the conference in each of those seasons.

Players Mentioned

Isaiah Collier

Boogie Ellis

Kobe Johnson

Joshua Morgan