The USC Trojans return home tonight to face the Stanford Cardinal in a tough Pac-10 test at Galen Center. After getting swept last weekend in Oregon, extending the Trojans' road woes, USC hopes home cooking will translate into a pair of wins against the Bay Area schools. USC is 4-16 in its last 20 conference road games, but are 15-6 in Pac-10 games at home during the same stretch. The Trojans are 8-2 at home this season.
Freshman guard Bryce Jones, second on the team with 20 three-pointers made, informed the school this week that he will transfer to another school. Jones, who lost his starting job to transfer Jio Fontan once Fontan became eligible, averaged 7.6 points in 20.6 minutes per game this year. "We appreciate his contributions to our program, and we wish Bryce and his family all the best," said head coach Kevin O'Neill, "He’s a talented player with a promising future."
Nikola Vucevic leads USC in both scoring (16.4 points per game) and rebounding (10.1 per game), and has excelled in Pac-10 play. He has a double-double four of five conference games so far, averaging 19.4 points and 11.2 boards in conference. Vucevic has 11 double-doubles on the season. Alex Stephenson has the other six double-doubles this season for the Trojans.
Stanford and USC split a pair last season, with each team winning at home, and the two schools have split their season series for five straight years. A pair of juniors lead the Cardinal, as guard Jeremy Green is averaging a team-leading 15.5 points per game, while forward Josh Owens tallies 6.5 rebounds per contest.
Here are tonight's probable starting lineups:
Stanford (10-6, 3-2)
- Guard: Aaron Bright
- Guard: Jarrett Mann
- Guard: Jeremy Green
- Forward: Josh Owens
- Forward: Dwight Powell
USC (10-8, 2-3)
- Guard: Jio Fontan
- Guard: Maurice Jones
- Guard: Marcus Simmons
- Forward: Alex Stephenson
- Forward: Nikola Vucevic
Tonight's game will not be televised, but is available to watch on USCTrojans.com.
For more information on tonight's game, be sure to read Conquest Chronicles.