USC basketball: Trojans lead UC Irvine, 30-24, at halftime

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Let’s just say the Trojans’ season opener against UC Irvine hasn’t started as well as they had hoped.

USC leads at halftime, 30-24, but its offense has looked stagnant, its transition game hasn’t really existed, and some of the veteran players are displaying some of the same bad habits that plagued them last season.

On offense, USC freshman point guard Maurice Jones (two of six for five points) has had the ball in his hands for much of the shot clock, penetrating in and out of Irvine’s 2-3 zone defense while looking for shooters.

Problem is, USC doesn’t have many, though freshman guard Bryce Jones (four of eight, including three of six from three-point range, for 12 points) seems to be volunteering for that role. Bryce hit his first two shots and later hit back-to-back three-point tries to put USC up 17-11 with 8:50 in the first half.

When USC tries to run, an emphasis by second-year coach Kevin O’Neill, it’s often just Maurice out in front of everyone, including his teammates, forcing him to wait up.

That lack of cohesion left USC in a basket-for-basket exchange with UC Irvine for most of the first half until Bryce started hitting from outside.

USC senior forward Alex Stepheson had six points and nine rebounds in the first half but still showed that he just isn’t comfortable around the rim when he has the ball.

In one sequence, he grabbed a defensive rebound and tried to throw a quick pass to Maurice, but he threw it too quickly and it was easily stolen by Irvine guard Chris McNealy, who made a short jumper. On the other end, Stepheson grabbed an offensive rebound but then traveled.

USC holds a 26-13 rebound advantage, largely behind Stepheson and junior forward Nikola Vucevic (two points, nine rebounds), but also because Irvine is an undersized team.

Here are some halftime stats:

USC shooting -- nine of 26 (34.6%), two of 10 from three-point range and four of seven from the free-throw line.

UC Irvine - 11 of 30 (36.7%), five of 13 from three-point range, and three of four from the free-throw line.

Bryce leads USC with 12 points, and Anteaters junior guard Eric Wise has a team-high 10 points on four-of-eight shooting.

-- Baxter Holmes