The USC Trojans look for a weekend split in Oregon as they battle the Oregon St. Beavers at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. The Trojans, who lost in Eugene on Thursday night in Oregon, will look to defeated the Beavers in Corvallis for the first time since 2008. Actually, any conference road win will do, as USC is just 4-16 in their last 20 Pac-10 road games.
USC fell behind by as much as 20 points Thursday night against Oregon, who were riding the emotional high of the first night of their brand new, $227 million Matthew Knight Arena. Theek Trojans clawed back, but their comeback fell short, as they lost 68-62. Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 11 rebounds in defeat, and has had five consecutive double-doubles, averaging 16.0 points and 12.8 rebounds during that span. Vucevic leads the Trojans on the season in scoring (15.8 points), rebounds (9.8), and blocks (1.47).
Sophomore guard Jared Cunningham leads the Beavers in scoring, at 14.0 points per game, although he was held to just five points on 1-for-9 shooting against UCLA on Thursday night. USC has made 104 three-pointers this season, in 17 games, only three fewer than they made all last season, in 30 games. USC leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 66-57.
Here are the probable starting lineups:
USC (10-7, 2-2)
- Guard: Jio Fontan
- Guard: Maurice Jones
- Guard: Marcus Simmons
- Forward: Alex Stephenson
- Forward: Nikola Vucevic
Oregon State (7-9, 2-3)
- Guard: Jared Cunningham
- Guard: Calvin Hayes
- Forward: Devon Collier
- Forward: Omari Johnson
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Center: Angus Brandt
Tonight's 7:30 p.m. PST game will be televised by Fox Sports Northwest.
For more information on today's game, be sure to read Conquest Chronicles.