Southern California continues a six-game, season-opening homestand in Los Angeles on Wednesday, looking to bounce back from its first loss of the campaign when it welcomes San Jose State.
USC (3-1) scored just two points over the final six-plus minutes of its 71-66 loss to Cal on Sunday. The Trojans’ output was their lowest of their first four games under coach Eric Musselman.
“We’ve proved multiple times throughout the season through these four games that we can score,” USC guard Saint Thomas said. “Sixty-six points is not bad, but we can’t give up 71 points in a basketball game and expect to win.”
The 71 points USC gave up to Cal marked a significant improvement from the 95 the Trojans allowed in a three-point win over UT Arlington on Nov. 13. However, USC allowed 42 first-half points vs. Cal, almost completely negating the Trojans’ own 43-point effort in the first 20 minutes.
San Jose State (1-4) has yet to score more than 69 points against a Division I opponent, against which the Spartans are 0-4. They routed NAIA program Life Pacific 93-56 on Nov. 11, behind Sadraque NgaNga’s 29 points and 12 rebounds.
NgaNga, a 6-foot-10 wing, bookended his breakout performance against Life Pacific with scoreless games in losses at Hawaii on Nov. 10 and vs. UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.
Josh Uduje, a key contributor for Utah State as it won the Mountain West regular-season title in 2023-24, is leading San Jose State with 13.8 points and 5.2 rebounds through the first five games.
Will McClendon, a former member of USC crosstown rival UCLA, is averaging 10.8 points per game as a Spartan.
“We don’t want to learn from too many losses, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” McClendon told the SJSU Spear following his 12 points vs. UCSB.
–Field Level Media
