Final Score: USC 85, South Carolina 75
Current Record: 2-1
Next Up: San Diego (Anaheim Classic) - 11/23
Once again, the game wasn't televised in CA so I'm basing this review off reports/stats:
Positives
- What a road trip for Daniel Hackett! He finished tonight's game with 22 points on 6 of 9 shooting, grabbed 10 boards, and dished out 10 assists for a triple-double.
- After 3 games, O.J. is averaging 24 pts, 7 reb, 4.5 assists, and 2 steals per game; he's also shooting 83% from the free-throw line.
- Both teams went with small line-ups and decided to play a perimeter game and the stats overall were pretty dead-even, but the difference in the game was our teamwork and shooting. South Carolina only had 8 assists compared to our 20 and shot 37.7% from the field to our 48.3%. The team accomplished this on the road in front of a hostile near sell-out crowd, you have to tip your hat to the grit of this team.
Negatives
- Kasey Cunningham left the game early with an injury. Let's hope he didn't reinjure his knee.
- Taj Gibson continues to struggle and no one has stepped up as a consistent starter down low. A lot of us expected Davon to be far ahead of where he's at right now and some thought Wilkinson might be able to fill the void after his impressive showing in the intrasquad game, but we're 3 games in and still lack a true post player to help Taj. Luckily we haven't played a team with a dominant PF/C yet, but someone is going to have to step up real soon since the Pac-10 is filled with talented big men.
The team will play in the Anaheim Classic this week starting with the University of San Diego on Thursday. Here's the info if you're interested in attending the game.
