Trojans return home to host LMU Lions


Following an impressive road victory over the New Mexico Lobos, the USC men’s basketball team looks to continue its winning ways as it hosts the Loyola Marymount Lions on Wednesday night.

Double-double · Redshirt sophomore forward Darion Clark posted 12 points and 11 rebounds in USC’s win over New Mexico last weekend. - Brian Ji | Daily Trojan

Double-double · Redshirt sophomore forward Darion Clark posted 12 points and 11 rebounds in USC’s win over New Mexico last weekend. – Brian Ji | Daily Trojan

The Trojans (4-3) won their first true road win of the season on Sunday when they beat the Lobos, 66-54. This was their first game on an opponent’s court after playing three games at home and an additional three at a neutral site.

Redshirt sophomore forward Darion Clark led the team to the win at The Pit with 12 points and 11 rebounds while sophomore forward Nikola Jovanovic added 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Trojans.

“I thought Darion Clark really set the tone with 12 points, 11 rebounds,” USC head coach Andy Enfield after the game. “Nikola [Jovanovic] got into it and was rebounding at a high level.”

Much of the victory could be attributed to the fact that USC held New Mexico’s senior guard Hugh Greenwood to a scoreless performance. Greenwood came into the matchup averaging 13 points per game, but the Trojans limited him to 0-for-11 shooting, including a dismal 0-for-9 from beyond the arc. New Mexico was led by forward Devon Williams, who had a career-high 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Freshman point guard Jordan McLaughlin, who is leading the team in scoring this season,  scored only eight points in the win, but he showed off his passing ability with seven assists, which led the team. And while redshirt sophomore guard Katin Reinhardt was scoreless in the game, he did defend Greenwood for the majority of the contest, forcing him to take tough shots and go scoreless as well.

“Greenwood is such an excellent offensive player. We knew it would be tough but we never imagined we would hold him scoreless,” Enfield said. “That’s just a testament to how well we played defensively.”

The Trojans will look to improve their shooting percentage against LMU: they shot only 38.3 percent from the floor against New Mexico including only 23.5 percent from deep. Though the Trojans did not have a good shooting performance, their defense was able to hold New Mexico to 32.7 percent from the field and only 12.5 percent from three. They will also try to keep their turnovers down as they did on Sunday, only committing nine; turnovers were a problem for this young team earlier in the season.

The Lions will enter the game with a 3-3 record, having recently lost to UC Irvine on Saturday. LMU is led by guard Evan Payne, who has scored 20 points in five of the Lions’ six games, including 23 against Irvine.

LMU has 11 newcomers on its roster and will rely on its three seniors to lead an inexperienced group. Forward Godwin Okonji and guard Ayodeji Egbeyemi are playing in their fifth seasons after having to sit out last year due to injuries. The third senior on the team, guard Chase Flint, will also look to use his experience to lead a group that includes only three players who played significant minutes for the Lions last season: Flint, Payne and forward Marin Mornar.

The Trojans will try to improve to 5-3 on the year as they look to get their fourth win in a row. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. at the Galen Center. USC is 2-1 at home and LMU is 0-1 on the road, only having lost to Arizona State.