USC Basketball and new coach Kevin O’Neill

New USC Coach Kevin O’Neill got off to a winning start as the Trojans fought a 77-67 victory over UC Riverside in front of 3,072 at the Galen Center, by only using 7 players including freshmen Evan Smith and Davis Rozitis.

Guards Marcus Simmons and Donte Smith impressed by giving the team unexpected contributions, who were vastly overlooked by previous coach Tim Floyd, who lost his first game in charge to Cal State Northridge and Mercer. Veteran guard Dwight Lewis led the Trojans with 22 points, and Smith, who planned to transfer last season added 18 more after Simmons scored 18 points and made six of eight shots.

Nikola Vucevic played one of his best games with 18 points and eight rebounds, but Marcus Simmons, who also considered transferring last season, was the star of the show after the two last seasons was considered as an “offensive non-entity.”

The other surprise of the night was freshman Evan Smith, who only played 33 minutes but managed to hit a big 3-pointer in the second half and score five points after only participating in only 1 of USC’s 11 practices.

Source: Daily Breeze