UNLV vs. USC Preview

 vs.

By Jason Taylor

11-24-11

“If we don't have this guy, it'll be very difficult for us to be competitive in major college games,” USC Coach Kevin O’Neill said before the season started. “Don’t come to the games. It’ll be ugly. Don’t show up."

O’Neil was talking about the importance of USC’s 5’7”, 155 lb. point guard, Maurice Jones. 

With their starting point guard, Jio Fontan, out due to a torn ACL, it’s readily apparent the USC coach was putting all of his eggs in one basket before the season started, and according to the stats, he’s following through with that strategy.   Jones has played an average of more than one game per game, averaging 41.5 minutes!  How is this possible?  It includes an overtime game.  The kid just doesn’t sit.

Then, there’s a physical anomaly of a player in Sophomore Dewayne Dedmon.  He’s an athletic 7’0” and 255 lbs that usually finishes 2^nd on the team in sprints.  Think David Robinson, but fortunately, without the skills… yet.  Coach O’Neill Is looking for him to be the 2^nd leading scorer on the season, and the leading rebounder, even though Dewayne had hardly played a lick of basketball as of two years ago.  For religious reasons, he only started playing organized ball his senior year of high school.

USC’s loss to Cal Poly underscores their style of play.  The score was 36-42.  UNLV averages more points per game than were scored by both teams in that game.  USC will slow things down as much as possible, and try to grind the game out… the antithesis to Dave Rice’s “Runnin” strategy.

Another clash of styles…

Rice’s push to “run” allows multiple ball handling opportunities.  Marshall and Bellfield run the point and alternate with fluidity… even play by play, sometimes.  Hawkins, Wallace, and Moser also have the green light to rebound, turn, and burn. 

Nothing of the sort will occur with any regularity for the Trojans.

O’Neill plans on keeping the ball in Jones’ hands on every possession.   “I believe in running the offense through certain guys,” O’Neill said. “I don’t believe in equal opportunity.

The differences in style should be stark.

The last time UNLV played USC 2 years ago, it was also in early-season tournament play.  The Rebels were running strong and expected run past USC.  However, point guard Michael Garrity had just become eligible for USC, and simply diced up UNLV’s defense and handed the Rebels a harsh loss.

This upcoming game comes with similar expectations.  UNLV should be able to beat the 2-3 Trojans… hopefully this expectation will be fulfilled this time.

Here’s the “recruiting strength” info for the Trojans’ roster.

Now that the season is underway, the information has been rearranged according to minutes played. 

	USC					ESPN	SCOUT
NO.	NAME - POSITION	Ht/Wt	CLASS	MinPG	PPG	TOP 100	GRADE
10	MAURICE JONES - PG	5-7/155	SO	41.5*	13.8	89	93
25	BYRON WESLEY - G	6-5/210	FR	33.0	4.8	-	91
21	AARON FULLER - F	6-6/235	JR	32.0	14.0	-	70
3	ALEXIS MOORE - G	6-2/180	FR	31.8	5.5	-	88
14	DEWAYNE DEDMON - C	7-1/255	SO	24.8	7.8	-	70
20	ERIC STRANGIS - G	6-4/190	SR	18.3	18.3	NR	NR
31	JAMES BLASCZYK - C	7-1/260	JR	16.3	1.8	NR	NR
33	GARRETT JACKSON - F	6-6/225	SO	13.3	4.8	-	90
2	GREG ALLEN - G	6-3/180	JR	3.5	0.0	NR	NR
42	CURTIS WASHINGTON	6-10/245	SO	Injured		-	87
22	EVAN SMITH - F	6-7/225	RS SO	Injured		-	78
1	JIO FONTAN - G	6-0/175	SR	Injured		NR	NR
24	DANIEL MUNOZ - G	5-10/175	JR	-		NR	NR
41	DANILO DRAGOVIC - G	6-5/195	FR	-		NR	NR
4	TYLER SUGIYAMA - G	5-10/150	RS SO	-		NR	NR
	AVG SCT GRDE OF TOP 8 RECRUITS						86.3
	* Over 40 due to Overtime(s)
	NR = Not Rated - ESPN was unable to evaluate the player in H.S.