National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Southern California 62, UC Irvine 49
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 13, 2010
Where: Galen Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials: # Kevin Brill, # Bill Kennedy, # Chris Rastatter
Attendance: 3125

Nikola Vucevic averaged nearly a double-double for USC last year, but surpassed his 10.7 points per game during a key eight-minute stretch Saturday to propel the Trojans past UC Irvine, 62-49, in Los Angeles on Saturday.


The junior forward poured in 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, and grabbed 14 rebounds for USC in its opener. Vucevic reeled off 11 of those points during a 17-8 Trojans run over the first eight minutes of the second half to gain a 47-32 lead.

Bryce Jones had 14 points and eight rebounds, Maurice Jones added 14 points and Alex Stepheson added 13 rebounds for USC.

The Trojans had stumbled to the finish line a year ago, losing their final five games – three of which they failed to crack 50 points – to close a disappointing 16-14.

Pavol Losonsky had 13 points and Eric Wise added 12 for the Anteaters, who had opened their season with a 79-65 defeat at No. 16 Illinois on Monday.

Despite their campuses being just 43 miles apart, the two programs had only played twice in the previous decade – both USC blowouts to open the season, 90-70 in 2004-05 and 78-55 in 2008-09.

Top Game Performances
 
UC Irvine   Southern California
Pavol Losonsky 13 Scoring Nikola Vucevic 19
Patrick Rembert 3 Assists Maurice Jones 4
Pavol Losonsky 8 Rebounds Nikola Vucevic 14
Darren Moore 3 Free Throws Made Nikola Vucevic 6
Darren Moore 3 Steals Maurice Jones 2
Eric Wise 1 Blocks Alex Stepheson 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
UC Irvine 49 34.6 5-20 8-11 6 26 1 5
Southern California 62 34.5 7-22 17-21 9 44 4 4