When the calendar flips from October to November, department stores bring out fixtures dotted in red and green, music fans await the release of their Spotify Wrapped and students make last-ditch efforts to save their grades before the fall semester wraps up. In the world of college basketball, this time of year is marked by something else: the beginning of the road to March Madness.

For the new-look USC Trojans (1-0), dreams of competing in the spring’s 68-team tournament began on Figueroa Street at Galen Center with a 77-51 victory against the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (0-1) Monday night.

On a loaded opening day that held nearly 200 matchups across Division I, the Trojans secured a 1-0 start with a strong second-half performance. The backdrop of the contest created a sense of intrigue. In a season of novelties for USC, a team that severely underperformed last season, many wondered how new Head Coach Eric Musselman’s reconstructed roster would look in his return to the West Coast.

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The answer: it’s a work in progress.

The Trojans employed a fluid rotation, moving players on and off the court at a frequent pace. Musselman attributed it to the absence of 6-foot, 7-inch graduate forward Terrance Williams II, who transferred to USC from Michigan during the spring.

“When we found out right before the game that, you know, [Williams] was not going to play, that [changed] our team drastically. Not a little bit, but drastically,” Musselman said.

The effects of Williams’ absence were felt in the first half, during which both teams sputtered on offense throughout. USC shot 13 of 30 from the field in the half, struggling with turnovers and miscues that prevented the team from taking control of the game.

The Trojans’ sloppiness allowed Chattanooga to stay alive, if only temporarily. The Mocs played in sync, but the Trojans broke the game open with a 9-2 run in the final three minutes to take a slice of momentum into the locker room.

Chattanooga was no slouch of an opponent — the Mocs were picked to finish second in the Southern Conference’s preseason poll. In addition, senior guard Trey Bonham was chosen as the conference’s preseason player of the year. But he couldn’t get much going against the Trojans on Monday night: Bonham only managed 6 points, with four coming from the free throw line.

“I think our size and length really bothered him, and [junior guard Honor Huff] too,” said graduate forward Matt Knowling, who put up 13 points in the win.

The Trojans came out of the break swinging, playing with a much greater intensity than they did in the first half. The shots weren’t falling for Chattanooga, who only made 7 field goals in the entire second half. USC outscored the visitors 45-29 over the final 20 minutes to ice the game.

After the game, Musselman fielded questions about his role in driving fan interest for the team, as Galen Center had a noticeably high amount of unfilled seats for the team’s home opener. While a sell-out crowd to kick off the season would have been ideal, the Trojans recognize that the best way to fix the issue is to build a winning culture, which will take time.

“Despite what Arkansas thinks, the first [couple of] games I was there had half-empty buildings. At Nevada, I could’ve counted them,” Musselman said when asked about the underwhelming crowd. “So, yeah, you’ve gotta win, you know, and like I said, you’ve gotta create an energy, meaning players on the floor, that people feel it and want to be around it.”

The Trojans will look to build off their opening win and draw in a greater number of fans for Thursday night’s matchup against Idaho State University. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. at Galen Center.