USC basketball: Trojans beat Point Loma Nazarene, 69-49, in exhibition game

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The USC men’s basketball team showcased its new up-tempo offense for the first time before an audience Saturday afternoon as the Trojans beat Point Loma Nazarene, 69-49, at the Galen Center in the team’s only exhibition game this season.

The result was, well, mixed and to be taken with a grain of salt.

First, Point Loma, a team that returned 10 players from an 8-21 season in 2009-10, has only one player taller than 6 feet 6. And as the Trojans possess arguably the top two big men in the Pacific 10 Conference in Alex Stepheson (6-10, 250 pounds) and Nikola Vucevic (6-10, 260), the battle inside wasn’t much of one.

Still, USC Coach Kevin O’Neill told his team throughout the scrimmage to push the ball whenever it could, which with freshman guard Maurice Jones is a possibility that didn’t exist last season when the Trojans’ offense moved as well as frozen molasses. (USC ranked 328th nationally out of 347 teams in scoring offense at 59.6 points per game.)

Behind Jones, a speedy, 5-foot-7 Michigan native, the Trojans looked for easy buckets in transition and jumped out to a 20-4 lead. USC was ahead, 39-19, at halftime, with Jones leading the team with four assists, and freshman guard Bryce Jones the top scorer with 13 points on four-of-five shooting from three-point range.

In the second half, USC’s offense slogged as the Trojans looked rather lazy and O’Neill tried different lineups. (The lineup that started the game for USC consisted of Stepheson, Vucevic and guards Marcus Simmons, Maurice Jones and Donte Smith.)

Stepheson led the team with 19 points on eight-of-13 shooting with six rebounds, but he struggled from the free-throw line, going three for 10. Vucevic had 16 points and 16 rebounds; Maurice Jones finished with seven points and six assists, and Bryce Jones added 17 points.

Overall, USC shot 28 of 60 from the floor (46.7%) and outrebounded Point Loma, 42-35. The most disparaging stat for USC, though, is that after the Trojans led the Sea Lions by 20 at halftime, the second-half point totals for both teams were even at 30.

The Trojans’ 2010-11 season begins Nov. 13 at home against UC Irvine.

-- Baxter Holmes