Southern California had a forgettable Thanksgiving on the basketball court by scoring just 36 points in a blowout loss.
The Trojans will look for a revival from their offense on Friday night when they face New Mexico in the third-place game of the Acrisure Invitational at Palm Desert, Calif.
The Lobos lost 85-82 to Arizona State late Thursday night to also fall into the third-place contest.
Meanwhile, USC was crushed 71-36 by Saint Mary’s and shot just 26 percent (13 of 50) from the field and was 0 of 12 from 3-point range in a humbling setback.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Trojans first-year coach Eric Musselman said afterward. “I’m extremely disappointed in so many different areas. Hopefully we will come out and play much better basketball (Friday). We really struggled offensively and defensively. Other than limiting ourselves to only 10 turnovers, there weren’t many positives to take on either side of the ball.”
Josh Cohen led the Trojans (5-2) with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
For the season, Cohen averages a team-best 12 points while shooting a superb 68.6 percent from the field.
Desmond Claude (11.6), Chibuzo Agbo (11.1) and Terrance Williams II (10.8) also average in double digits.
Agbo had eight points against the Gaels, which will meet Arizona State in the title game. Claude scored four points and Williams had one.
New Mexico (5-2) recovered from a 13-point first-half deficit and led for the first 13 1/2 minutes of the second before the Sun Devils took their first lead of the half and eventually posted the victory.
“We went toe-to-toe with them,” Lobos coach Richard Pitino told the Albuquerque Journal afterward. “I was disappointed, obviously, with the result but I’m proud of the fact that we’re taking on a Big 12 team and we’re right there. We got to execute for 40 minutes a little better.”
Donovan Dent and Mustapha Amzil carried the Lobos. Dent scored a season-high 30 points to raise his team-leading average to 18.9, while Amzil recorded a career-best 28 points and is second on the squad at 15 points per game.
“Everybody’s got to be ready to score,” Amzil told the Journal. “I think we have what it takes. We just have to figure it out.”
The Lobos shot just 38.1 percent from the field against Arizona State and were 6 of 16 from 3-point range.
The Trojans and Lobos last met just over nine years ago when host USC nabbed a 90-82 victory.
–Field Level Media
