Southern California tips off the final week of its nonconference schedule Wednesday by welcoming UTSA to Los Angeles for just the second-ever meeting between the programs.
USC (10-1) also had a game scheduled for Dec. 21 against Brown canceled in response to last weekend’s on-campus shooting at the Providence-based university.
With that game nixed, USC lined up a replacement game against Division III UC Santa Cruz to avoid having a layoff of more than two weeks before traveling to No. 2-ranked Michigan for a Big Ten Conference matchup on Jan. 2. That also gives the Trojans time to heal amid a rash of early-season injuries, most notably that of all-around difference-making guard Rodney Rice.
Rice — averaging 20.3 points, six assists and 3.3 rebounds per game when he sustained a shoulder injury Nov. 25 vs. Seton Hall — missed his fifth consecutive contest last Sunday. USC scored a season-low 68 points against former Pac-12 counterpart Washington State, but scrapped out a seven-point win to pick up its 10th win of the campaign.
“We’ve been scoring at such a high rate that we’ve gotten by winning games with our offense,” said coach Eric Musselman, whose Trojans rank No. 40 nationally in scoring offense at 87.5 points per game. “The real positive is we had to grind the game out when we weren’t scoring and shooting very well.”
That included weathering a 4-for-13 night shooting from the floor for Chad Baker-Mazara, USC’s leading scorer on the season at 21.6 points per game. Jacob Cofie stepped up to score 21 points and grab 10 rebounds, providing an interior presence that Musselman said will be critical for the Trojans going forward.
Cofie’s team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game can set the tone against a UTSA team that has struggled with surrendering rebounds.
The Roadrunners (4-6) were outrebounded 46-34 in an 88-64 loss Saturday at Colorado, UTSA’s third consecutive defeat. Yielding 42.7 rebounds per game, only two teams in the country give up more per game.
While UTSA is grabbing 13.7 offensive boards a contest to rank in the nation’s top 50, the Roadrunners are also giving up 13.5 offensive rebounds on the other end. That is a byproduct of UTSA shooting a dismal 39.7 % from the floor.
Jamir Simpson is the lone Roadrunner averaging in double-figures at 18.9 points per game.
–Field Level Media
