No. 21 Southern California begins a three-game homestand in Los Angeles on Sunday with a visit from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which is continuing a lengthy road swing to open the 2026-27 season.
USC (3-0) returns home after a pair of road victories. The Trojans held off Wichita State last Sunday in a neutral-court game 93-86, then visited former Pac-12 Conference counterpart Cal on Wednesday.
A 7-0 run with under seven minutes remaining gave USC a cushion down the stretch as it finished off a 77-65 victory in the Bay Area. The backcourt tandem of Alijah Arenas and Rodney Rice buoyed the Trojans offensively in both wins. They scored 19 and 18 points, respectively in the victory at Cal.
Each posted career highs against Wichita State with Rice scoring 32 points and Arenas notching 30. Rice also dished nine assists in that game.
Trojans big man Jacob Cofie had a productive visit to Cal, matching his personal high with 15 rebounds and setting a career high with six assists.
Cofie played limited minutes in USC’s season-opening rout of Milwaukee on Nov. 2 with back spasms. His clean bill of health at Cal allowed Trojans head coach Eric Musselman to expand the contributions of his “point center” from a rebounding and defensive specialist.
“Much like the (NBA’s Golden State) Warriors use Draymond Green … we tried to put Jacob right in that pocket and then become a playmaker,” Musselman said.
The Trojans’ offense has relied heavily on distribution through the first three games, with 64% of the team’s made field goals coming on assists per KenPom.com. Rice’s 7.0 assists per game lead the way while Cofie is averaging 2.3, and reserve spark plug KJ Lewis has doled out 2.0 per contest.
Lewis is coming off of a 16-point performance off the bench at Cal.
With neutral-court marquee matchups against South Carolina and Utah State waiting in the California desert during the Thanksgiving week, USC hopes to continue its perfect start with the impending home stretch.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-4) seeks its first win in what has been a trying start to the campaign.
The Lions, who do not play a home game until Dec. 15, surrendered at least 106 points in each of their first three outings, all on the road.
Its season-opening odyssey includes the team’s current, three-game trek through the Los Angeles area that concludes with Sunday’s contest.
The Lions were much more competitive on Friday at Cal Baptist than in their previous matchups with Arkansas, Baylor and Wednesday’s historically lopsided 106-37 loss at UCLA.
Despite 24 points from Jalen Tatum and 22 from Macaleab Rich, Arkansas-Pine Bluff fell at Cal Baptist 74-60.
Tatum was 2 of 3 from 3-point range, but the rest of the Lions went 0 of 10 from deep. UAPB instead relied on 38 points in the paint against Cal Baptist – more than it scored in total on Wednesday.
“Road games are always tough,” UAPB coach Solomon Bozeman said before the season. “You’ve got to come in with a different type of focus, a different type of discipline on the road.”
–Field Level Media
