Through three games, No. 21 USC men’s basketball’s backcourt featuring senior guard Rodney Rice and sophomore guard Alijah Arenas have carried the Trojans offensively, but it is the contributions of other key players that will take the team far this season.
Wednesday night’s win over the University of California-Berkeley was the Trojans’ first taste of a Power-Four matchup this season and with the leadership of Rice and Arenas, they proved their capability of competing at a high level against other athletic teams. The pair combined for 37 points in the Trojans third non-conference win.
When Cal turned up the pressure late in the second half to cut the lead to only three, Rice’s skill to calmly bring the ball up the floor was essential for the Trojans offense. It led to several easy lay ups for other players in the lineup, including junior forward Jacob Cofie and guard Jadis Jones.
So far this season Rice is averaging 21.7 points a game along with seven assists while Arenas is averaging 23.3 points per game. The pair make up 49.7% of the Trojans shots and are scoring at an elite level.
Although the duo is getting all of the love in the backcourt, senior guard KJ Lewis has made his presence known and has been arguably the Trojan’s best on-ball defender so far this season.
In yesterday’s game against Cal, Lewis was tasked with guarding sophomore guard Michael Cooper, who came into the matchup averaging 19.7 points and boasting a 62.5% three point percentage. Lewis completely shut Cooper down, holding him to just seven points in the game and three for seven from the floor. His effort and hustle on the defensive end ignites the Trojans on defense and gives the whole team energy.
“Coming into the game we felt like KJ Lewis off the bench and Jadis Jones moving him to the four and moving Jacob Cofie to the five allowed us to take away the three and crowd the perimeter a little bit more,” head coach Eric Musselman said.
Lewis’ experience from playing at Arizona and Georgetown will also be relied upon down the stretch, as he is accustomed to big games and likely won’t get intimidated by the high-pressure scenarios.
Another key piece on the Trojans team lies in Cofie. Cofie is one of three returners on the team and came up big against Cal, posting a near triple double.
With star freshmen twins, forward Adonis and center Darius Ratliff, being in foul trouble all game, Cofie stepped up and played 40 minutes – the most on the team. To counteract Cal’s defensive zone scheme, Musselman had Cofie playing out of the high post, allowing him to create countless scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates. He finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in his monstrous performance.
Cofie was one of USC’s best players on a difficult team to work with last year, and this season, he has been more of the glue that will hold the team together. He isn’t pressing for points, and his skill in the midrange and post will be extremely valuable.
“Jacob was absolutely phenomenal, not just on the glass but then he was our trigger man offensively that we were trying to play through,” Musselman said postgame.
He is still struggling with back issues, but as he continues to get healthy, he will be a key part of the Trojans success.
Despite the win, this game also showed the inexperience of the young Ratliff twins and the Trojans’ turnover issues. Both Ratliffs were completely taken out of the game with a number of fouls that caused them to sit out for an extended period of time. Cal’s junior forward Sammie Yeanay was more physical and was a matchup nightmare for the Ratliff’s, causing coach Musselman to go in a different direction with the lineups.
Apart from the Ratliff twins, as a team USC had 12 turnovers, similar to last season’s average of 12.5 a game, a sore spot for the Trojans. They will need to take care of the ball better when facing more talented teams that will take advantage of those mistakes.
Even with the early mistakes, Musselman is proud of how his team is progressing this season.
“To go to Tahoe and play in a neutral site game against a very good Wichita State team, that’s a veteran team, fourth oldest team in college basketball, and then to play at Cal, a true road game against an ACC team. We are extremely excited where we are now,” said Musselman.
The Trojans will face Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Sunday, a team that fell to UCLA by 67 points last night. It will be key to see how the Trojans look when potential star freshman forward Christian Collins is healthy along with sophomore center Eric Reibe and gets back into the lineup. For now, Musselman’s team will continue to rely on the scoring barrage from Arenas and Rice and other players to step up if they have a poor game.
Edited by Adriana Brady and Sammie Vassallo