Thirteen new players and a new coaching staff. That’s what the USC men’s basketball team is working through during the early part of the 2024-25 college basketball season.
And so far it’s gone as expected. Some flashes of brilliance, a few bobbles, but overall not too bad. The Trojans will enter the Acrisure Classic with a 5-1 record. All six games were played at home.
The one loss came to former Pac-12 cohorts Cal as the Bears came into the Galen Center and pulled out a 71-66 win. The wins have come against Chattanooga, Idaho State, UT Arlington, San Jose State and Grambling.
The Trojans will play their toughest opponent of the year in the Acrisure Series on Thursday when they meet undefeated Saint Mary’s at 6 p.m. On Friday they will play either New Mexico or former Pac-12 mate Arizona State in either the championship game (6:30 p.m.) or the third-place game (9 p.m.).
New coach Eric Musselman, who joined the Trojans this year after coaching most recently at Arkansas, said he’s definitely still tinkering with the lineup.
Acrisure Series: Schedule, ticket info and more for 21-team college basketball event
“We’re still trying to figure this out, another starting lineup today,” he said after a recent win over San Jose State. “Heck, we’ve had three different people jump center in five games. Probably the only team that can say that. I’m trying to figure it out and I don’t have all the answers yet.”
To that end, the Trojans had a different starting lineup in each of their first six games and had four different leading scorers throughout that stretch.
The most eye-opening performance for the team so far might have been their exhibition game played at Acrisure Arena in late October when they hung with and eventually defeated Gonzaga (the current No. 3 team in the country) 96-93. Sure it was an exhibition game, but the outcome certainly raised some eyebrows at the kind of talent level the team has when everything is clicking.
A strength of the Trojans’ is their scoring depth. They have six different players averaging more than nine points per game.
That group is led by Terrance Williams, a transfer from Michigan. Williams missed two games but is averaging 15.3 points per game in the three that he’s played. Look for him to continue to provide the most consistent offensive scoring punch for the Trojans, but he’s not alone.
Guards Desmond Claude (12.6) and Wesley Yates (12.0) and forward Josh Cohen (10.8) all average in double figures. Saint Thomas averages 9.4 points, 6.0 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game from his guard position. Those assist and rebound totals both lead the team.
One area coach Musselman has lamented is the collective defense against the other team’s top players. Despite being No. 1 on the scouting report, opposing guards specifically have had career games against the Trojans. Jayden Wells of UT Arlington who scored 27 and Josh Uduje of San Jose State who scored 25 are examples.
“Our defense has got to be better and particularly disappointing is that the stars keep torching us,” Musselman said. “These guys are having career nights and that’s gotta stop before we get to Big Ten play and even before we get to Palm Springs.”
Musselman and the Trojans’ coaches will learn a lot about their team in their two games at Acrisure Arena as part of the Acrisure Series. In their four-team mini-tournament, the Trojans will be the lowest-ranked team behind Saint Mary’s, New Mexico and Arizona State.
However, they will be the only team to have played a game in the arena and it was a positive experience, so that may give them a small leg-up.
“The biggest thing when playing on a holiday is to stay focused,” Musselman said after Sunday’s 80-68 win over Grambling. “We have a job to do. We have back-to-back games, so staying healthyis super important for back-to-back games.”
Both USC games at Acrisure will be televised on TruTV and there are still tickets available at acrisurearena.com. A daily ticket will allow you to see the Trojans and all the games in the arena that day. There are four games on Thursday and five on Friday.
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: USC basketball still ‘figuring it out’ ahead of Acrisure Series games
