Fresh off a season opener that seemingly could not have gone much better, Southern California welcomes in Idaho State for a matchup on Thursday in Los Angeles.
USC (1-0) tipped off the season, its first with a head coach other than Andy Enfield on the sidelines since 2012-13, with a 77-51 blowout of visiting Chattanooga.
In the Trojans’ debut under coach Eric Musselman, featuring an almost entirely new roster, nine players scored at least three points, and seven registered at least eight, led by Chibuzo Agbo’s 14.
Matt Knowling, who scored 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor, said the Trojans players are talented “one through 16. We could trust anyone to go out there and play.”
Agbo was also one of six Trojans to finish with multiple assists, as 21 of USC’s 32 field goals were assisted. Musselman said he was “super proud” of the assist numbers, particularly with the lineup that was “put together on the fly.”
Idaho State (0-1) enters off a 55-48 loss at one of USC’s former Pac-12 Conference counterparts, Arizona State, on Tuesday. Three Bengals scored in double figures, led by Isaiah Griffin’s 12 points, while Jake O’Neil notched 10 points and 11 rebounds.
However, Idaho State could not overcome shooting 25.4 percent from the floor and going 4-of-28 on 3-point attempts.
The Bengals played effective defense, particularly in the second half, when they limited Arizona State to 8-of-30 shooting (26.7 percent) and 1-of-12 from 3-point range. The Bengals, who outscored the Sun Devils 28-24 after halftime, trailed by 13 with just under 14 minutes remaining, pulled to within one point with about five minutes left before a late Arizona State surge.
Among the Bengals who will need to play a big role if they are to stun 23-point favorite USC is veteran guard AJ Burgin. Idaho State coach Ryan Looney said this week that the reserve spark plug will play a key role for the team all season with his defense, but the Bengals are also looking for him to grow further offensively.
“If you can go back and look through statistics, he’s becoming a more efficient offensive player for us,” Looney said. “For the first time in a long career, this is probably the most comfortable he feels with what his role will look like.”