Saturday, January 31
Los Angeles, Calif.
7 PM
Rutgers University
at
USC
Photo by: Ben Solomon
Men’s Basketball Starts West Coast Trip at USC
Jan 29 | Men's Basketball
RU Plays Saturday Night at USC, then Heads to UCLA for Tuesday Game
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Playing in the new-look Big Ten represents a new path on the rugged road of the nation's top conference. The Scarlet Knights are set to depart for a California trip for the first time, after taking the Washington-Oregon swing last year. Rutgers will fly out to Los Angeles and have a two-game trip against USC and UCLA. Rutgers will take the cross-country trip of nearly 2,800 miles. The game is on Peacock, starting at 7 pm Eastern Time at the Galen Center.
Rutgers is coming off a strong team performance against No. 7 Michigan State on Tuesday night. RU led for 36 minutes of game time as the Scarlet Knights used an early 17-0 points off turnover advantage to lead by as much as 12, but the Spartans pulled away late in an 88-79 overtime win. The Scarlet Knights played into an extra session for the third time at home in the month of January, also going into overtime in wins over Northwestern and Oregon.
RU saw five players score in in double-figures for the first time all season against MSU. Only five RU players scored overall (Tariq Francis – 23, Harun Zrno – 16, Jamichael Davis – 15, Darren Buchanan Jr. – 15, Dylan Grant – 11). Those five players shot 25-of-53 from the field (47%). Zrno had at least four three-pointers for the third time this season, Davis had his most points since November 25, Buchanan had his fourth double-digit output in the past eight games, and Grant had his first double-digit scoring game since January 2.
Tariq Francis leads the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game. With Francis in a role coming off the bench, RU averages 29.71 bench points per game, second in the Big Ten. Since December 20, when he was assumed his current role off the bench, Francis has scored at least 15 points in nine of the 10 games, with five games of at least 23 points. He is averaging 18.7 points per game across that span.
Francis shoots 88.5 percent from the free throw line, fifth in the Big Ten. That mark currently stands as the sixth best in a single season at RU, and second best since RU joined the Big Ten.
The Trojans enters the matchup at 15-6 overall and 4-6 in the Big Ten. Last in action against Iowa on Wednesday, USC had a dramatic comeback, overcoming a 17 point deficit in the nine minutes to hold a lead with eight seconds remaining. However, Iowa finished at the free throw line, and USC's last shot rimmed out, giving Iowa a 73-72 win despite USC finishing the game on a 21-7 run.
Kam Woods was the standout for USC at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, scoring 33 points, including 27 after halftime. A fifth-year player on his fifth school, most recently as a starter at Robert Morris, he entered the game averaging just 3.1 points per game on the year in 8 USC games, though he averaged 12.0 points per game across her first 105 collegiate games at Troy, NC A&T, NC State, Robert Morris and USC>
Head coach Eric Musselman is in his second year with the Trojans, with a 252-116 career record across Nevada, Arkansas and USC, with six NCAA Tournament appearances. All of the Trojans losses have come in conference play. USC swept a non-conference slate that was highlighted by Seton Hall, Boise State and Arizona State. The team began the year at 12-1, earning appearances in the national rankings. USC is in the top-15 nationally in free throw attempts per game, free throws made per game, and blocks.
Chad Baker-Mazara was one of five finalists for the small forward of the year award last season. This season, he earned recognition as a midseason All-Big Ten First Teamer. He leads the squad with 18.9 points per game this season, including shooting 90.4% from the free throw line, best in the Big Ten. In his fifth season of collegiate basketball with 140 career games played, he previously was on Duquesne, San Diego State, Northwestern Florida State and Auburn (All-SEC last season).
Ezra Ausar previously spent two seasons at Eastern Carolina and one at Utah. He has 1400 career points, including 15.9 points per game this year, ranking among the top-3 in the Big Ten as he shoots over 60% from the field. Alijah Arenas, a five-star recruit and son of NBA star Gilbert Arenas, made his season debut against Northwestern on January 21 as a starter.
Having played just twice in school history prior to last season, RU and USC matched up twice last season as well. USC leads the all-time series, 3-1.
In a February meeting at Jersey Mike's Arena last season, Rutgers earned a 95-85 victory. Dylan Harper had 25 points, nine assists and six steals. It was Rutgers' most points ever in a regulation game versus a Big Ten team.
The two squads then met in the Big Ten Tournament, with the game going to double overtime. USC came away with a 97-89 victory in that contest. Dylan Harper led RU with 27 in that game.
The first two meetings came in 1973 and 1974, both at neutral sites, and both won by USC. The Trojans won 82-81 in 1973 and 81-66 in 1974. USC was ranked 14th nationally in the 1973 meeting, which came at the All-College Tournament in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and sixth nationally in the 1974 matchup, which was at the ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.
Rutgers remains in Los Angeles until Tuesday night. The Scarlet Knights will play against UCLA at Pauley Pavillion, a 9:30 PM Eastern Time tipoff.
| About Rutgers |
Rutgers is coming off a strong team performance against No. 7 Michigan State on Tuesday night. RU led for 36 minutes of game time as the Scarlet Knights used an early 17-0 points off turnover advantage to lead by as much as 12, but the Spartans pulled away late in an 88-79 overtime win. The Scarlet Knights played into an extra session for the third time at home in the month of January, also going into overtime in wins over Northwestern and Oregon.
RU saw five players score in in double-figures for the first time all season against MSU. Only five RU players scored overall (Tariq Francis – 23, Harun Zrno – 16, Jamichael Davis – 15, Darren Buchanan Jr. – 15, Dylan Grant – 11). Those five players shot 25-of-53 from the field (47%). Zrno had at least four three-pointers for the third time this season, Davis had his most points since November 25, Buchanan had his fourth double-digit output in the past eight games, and Grant had his first double-digit scoring game since January 2.
Tariq Francis leads the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game. With Francis in a role coming off the bench, RU averages 29.71 bench points per game, second in the Big Ten. Since December 20, when he was assumed his current role off the bench, Francis has scored at least 15 points in nine of the 10 games, with five games of at least 23 points. He is averaging 18.7 points per game across that span.
Francis shoots 88.5 percent from the free throw line, fifth in the Big Ten. That mark currently stands as the sixth best in a single season at RU, and second best since RU joined the Big Ten.
| About USC |
The Trojans enters the matchup at 15-6 overall and 4-6 in the Big Ten. Last in action against Iowa on Wednesday, USC had a dramatic comeback, overcoming a 17 point deficit in the nine minutes to hold a lead with eight seconds remaining. However, Iowa finished at the free throw line, and USC's last shot rimmed out, giving Iowa a 73-72 win despite USC finishing the game on a 21-7 run.
Kam Woods was the standout for USC at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, scoring 33 points, including 27 after halftime. A fifth-year player on his fifth school, most recently as a starter at Robert Morris, he entered the game averaging just 3.1 points per game on the year in 8 USC games, though he averaged 12.0 points per game across her first 105 collegiate games at Troy, NC A&T, NC State, Robert Morris and USC>
Head coach Eric Musselman is in his second year with the Trojans, with a 252-116 career record across Nevada, Arkansas and USC, with six NCAA Tournament appearances. All of the Trojans losses have come in conference play. USC swept a non-conference slate that was highlighted by Seton Hall, Boise State and Arizona State. The team began the year at 12-1, earning appearances in the national rankings. USC is in the top-15 nationally in free throw attempts per game, free throws made per game, and blocks.
Chad Baker-Mazara was one of five finalists for the small forward of the year award last season. This season, he earned recognition as a midseason All-Big Ten First Teamer. He leads the squad with 18.9 points per game this season, including shooting 90.4% from the free throw line, best in the Big Ten. In his fifth season of collegiate basketball with 140 career games played, he previously was on Duquesne, San Diego State, Northwestern Florida State and Auburn (All-SEC last season).
Ezra Ausar previously spent two seasons at Eastern Carolina and one at Utah. He has 1400 career points, including 15.9 points per game this year, ranking among the top-3 in the Big Ten as he shoots over 60% from the field. Alijah Arenas, a five-star recruit and son of NBA star Gilbert Arenas, made his season debut against Northwestern on January 21 as a starter.
| About the Series |
Having played just twice in school history prior to last season, RU and USC matched up twice last season as well. USC leads the all-time series, 3-1.
In a February meeting at Jersey Mike's Arena last season, Rutgers earned a 95-85 victory. Dylan Harper had 25 points, nine assists and six steals. It was Rutgers' most points ever in a regulation game versus a Big Ten team.
The two squads then met in the Big Ten Tournament, with the game going to double overtime. USC came away with a 97-89 victory in that contest. Dylan Harper led RU with 27 in that game.
The first two meetings came in 1973 and 1974, both at neutral sites, and both won by USC. The Trojans won 82-81 in 1973 and 81-66 in 1974. USC was ranked 14th nationally in the 1973 meeting, which came at the All-College Tournament in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and sixth nationally in the 1974 matchup, which was at the ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.
| Up Next |
Rutgers remains in Los Angeles until Tuesday night. The Scarlet Knights will play against UCLA at Pauley Pavillion, a 9:30 PM Eastern Time tipoff.
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