Despite center Dewayne Dedmon returning less than a week after being diagnosed with a stress injury in his right foot, the USC Trojans had no answer for the size of the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday, falling 55-40 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Rodney Williams - no, the arena isn't named after him - scored 12 and pulled down nine rebounds for the Gophers and had a raucous 360-degree breakaway dunk in the first half as Minnesota began to pull away.
Williams Arena is affectionately known as "The Barn" in Minnesota, and the Trojans shot like they couldn't hit the broad side of The Barn on Saturday. USC shot just 32.7% from the field, making just 16 of 49 shots. The Trojans were outrebounded by the Gophers 34-24.
Dedmon scored two points and grabbed four rebounds in 26 minutes for USC, who was led by Maurice Jones with 14 points in 37 minutes. This was the Trojans' second loss to a Big Ten foe this season, as they had already lost to Nebraska. USC has a week off before hosting the New Mexico Lobos next Saturday afternoon at Galen Center.
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