USC basketball: California pregame

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Greetings and salutations!

Coming to you from the Galen Center, where the most famous college basketball student manager in the country, Stan Holt, is expected to make an appearance tonight.

If you haven’t heard, Holt drew a technical foul in USC’s loss at Oregon for allegedly swearing at an official, which led to USC Coach Kevin O’Neill firing him. Well today, O’Neill rehired him and he’ll be back on the sidelines tonight, but I’d be surprised if he so much as whispers during the game.

But I digress...


Here are some facts and stats to get you ready before the 7:30 tip-off (radio broadcast on 710) between USC (12-9 overall, 4-5 in Pacific 10 Conference play) and California (14-7, 6-3), which beat the Trojans last month in Berkeley.

USC player to watch: Mike Gerrity

There’s a good chance USC will be able to push the ball in this game, and if that’s true, Gerrity could become a key factor. In games where he’s able to get out and run, USC has been more effective offensively and usually wins, such as the victories against Tennessee, Nevada Las Vegas and Washington. Yet if California goes zone and USC has to work out of the half-court set, Gerrity could become a non-factor.

California player to watch: Jerome Randle

I’m going with Randle just because he’s unpredictable, which isn’t much fun for defenders but is plenty fun for everybody else. He leads the Golden Bears in scoring at 18.9 points per game, and the 5-foot-10 guard from Chicago is erratic and scrappy. He’ll shoot from way beyond the three-point arc or drive into the heart of a zone defense and throw up a circus shot. He had a game-high 21 points in California’s 67-59 over USC in January, shooting seven of 13 from the field, including six of six from the free-throw line. He’s tough to stop but fun to watch.

Key to the game: Transition offense

As O’Neill likes to say, the Trojans are ‘offensively challenged,’ which is a politically correct way of saying the offense stinks something awful. The Trojans average 60 points per game, which is good for ninth place in the Pac-10 and a tie for 322nd place nationally out of 347 teams.

But when the Trojans are able to score, it comes on transition, as I said previously. Because California likes to shoot early in the shot clock, there is a chance this could become a hectic-paced game, meaning USC could get some chances to push the ball up the court. If that happens, the Trojans could build a lead and then use their top-flight defense to hold the Golden Bears down. But if California is able to get out in transition, it could run over USC simply because it has more talent.

--Baxter Holmes