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LOS ANGELES – The 2026-2027 season for USC basketball is officially underway. It began with an emphatic 95-63 victory over the Milwaukee Panthers on Monday night at the Galen Center, providing the first glimpse of a revamped Trojans roster.
Expectations have certainly been raised for the program this year after an offseason spent compiling some of the most notable transfer and recruiting classes in the nation. Their seven-man transfer class was ranked fourth in the country by On3, while ESPN ranked their recruiting class No. 7.
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USC enters the season ranked No. 21, marking both its first preseason national ranking and highest ranking at any point under head coach Eric Musselman.
“[I’m] impressed with some things we did from an offensive standpoint, like shooting the three, and super impressed with our two freshmen in the Ratliffs,” Musselman said. “But we got a lot of things to clean up as far as taking care of the basketball. We’ve got to play better in transition.”
Coaching his 12th collegiate season, he improved to 11-1 in season openers and 3-0 with the Trojans.
From the jump, they were given a nice boost from guard Alijah Arenas. The sophomore, who appeared in just 14 games last season, helped USC open up a quick 10-5 lead as he contributed four points, two rebounds and a steal.
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Arenas continued to make an impact the rest of the way, putting together a well-rounded performance. He finished with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting to lead all guards, adding eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“It was amazing,” Arenas said when asked about being available for the season opener. “It’s a blessing that I got to have a full offseason. I’m just all around very excited to play. I have no complaints here for anything whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, the highly-regarded freshman big man twins, Adonis and Darius Ratliff, were exactly as advertised in their regular-season collegiate debuts. Adonis led all scorers, posting 25 points on 7-of-10 shooting (5-of-7 from…
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Publish date : 2026-11-03 07:20:00
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