USC Men's Basketball Prepares To Take On The Minnesota Golden Gophers

Friday, January 9

Minneapolis, Minn.

5:30 p.m.

USC

Minnesota

Jerry Easter II going for a layup against Michigan State

USC Men's Basketball Prepares To Take On The Minnesota Golden Gophers

January 08, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

This will be the eighth all-time meeting between these two teams.

MINNEAPOLIS – USC Men's Basketball will play the final game of its three-game road trip as it takes on the University of Minnesota Gophers on Friday, Jan. 9, at Williams Arena. This will be the eighth meeting between the Trojans and the Gophers. USC has an all-time record of 2-5 against Minnesota. This is also the first time USC Head Coach Eric Musselman and Minnesota Head Coach Niko Medved have coached against each other since the 2018-19 season, when Musselman was in his last year at Nevada, and Medved was in his first season at Colorado State. The Wolf Pack won both games against the Rams that season.

LAST TIME OUT
USC played its second top 15 team in as many games as they took on the No. 12 Michigan State Spartans. The Trojans came out strong, going on a 5-0 run to start the game. That run was short-lived as Michigan State responded with a 10-0 run, keeping USC from scoring for six minutes. The Spartans took advantage of that, keeping the lead for the final 31 minutes of play as USC fell 80-51 in the Breslin Center.

Ezra Ausar led the Trojans with 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks – all of which were team highs. Jerry Easter II's 12 points gave him his third game in double figures, while Jacob Cofie added seven points.

SCOUTING THE GOPHERS

Minnesota is coming into this game against the Trojans after a win over No. 19 Iowa in Williams Arena. The Gophers are starting Big Ten play with a 3-1 record, having also won against Indiana and Northwestern.
The Gophers rank in the top 25 in the NCAA in one stat category – assists per game. Currently, they are 24th, averaging 18.4 per game. They also rank in the top four in the Big Ten in steals per game (7.4), scoring defense (65.8) and free throw attempts per game (24.5).
Cade Tyson has been the biggest offensive threat for the Gophers. He leads the Big Ten in points, accumulating 325 through 15 games. He is also fifth in the nation in made free throws, securing 102 this season.
The Gophers are coached by Niko Medved, who is in his first season at the helm in Minneapolis. Prior to Minnesota, Medved was the head coach at Colorado State. He has an overall coaching record of 232-177.

HOMECOMING
Head Coach Eric Musselman returns to the University of Minnesota for the first time since he was a child when his father, Bill Musselman, was the head coach of the Gophers from 1971-75. Eric Musselman was also on the staff with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 1990-91 season, when he was an assistant coach under his father.

ROAD WARRIORS
USC is the only Big Ten and Power-4 team to take a three-game road trip in conference play this season. Over the last nine days, the Trojans have traveled 2,491 miles across two states. Only eight other teams in the top 100 of the NET rankings will go on a three-game road trip in conference play this season: Columbia, McNeese State, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Stephen F. Austin, Villanova, William & Mary and Yale.

After this trip, USC will have logged 10,822.8 flight miles across five states.