The Gonzaga Bulldogs meet the USC Trojans down in Palm Desert, California, for a charity exhibition game to unofficially tip off the 2024-25 college basketball season.
The Zags, who debuted at No. 6 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, brought back seven of their top eight scorers from last season’s Sweet 16 run. Mark Few and the coaching staff added a handful of newcomers who figure to make an impact from the get-go, such as Michael Ajayi (Pepperdine), Khalif Battle (Arkansas) and Emmanuel Innocenti (Tarleton State). Ajayi was named to the preseason All-WCC team along with Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman and Graham Ike.
After battling each other in practice for months on end, Gonzaga’s first test of the season against someone other than themselves is a new-look Trojans squad led by head coach Eric Musselman, who returns to his home of sunny California after guiding the Razorbacks to three Sweet 16 appearances in his five seasons in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Musselman, who grew up in San Diego and played basketball at the University of San Diego, used some of his hometown connections to help rebuild USC’s roster from essentially scratch this offseason.
USC brought in San Diego transfer Kevin Patton Jr, a 6-foot-8 forward who was named to the All-WCC Freshman Team after putting up 9.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game with the Toreros. Musselman also snagged Chibuzo Agbo, a 6-foot-7 forward who graduated high school from St. Augustine before attending Boise State, as well as 6-foot-5 grad transfer Bryce Pope, a native of the area and a transfer from UC San Diego.
In total, the Trojans added 12 transfers to join the lone returner from last season, 6-foot-10 senior Harrison Hornery. A pair of double-digit scorers from power conferences in Terrance Williams (Michigan) and Desmond Claude (Xavier) headline the group of newcomers. Pope and Clark Slajchert (Penn) are two high-volume scorers who feature in the backcourt.
Saturday’s exhibition is the first of two friendlies on Gonzaga’s schedule this season. The Bulldogs return home to take on NAIA-foe Warner Pacific on Oct. 30 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Here are the live updates for Gonzaga’s exhibition game against USC:
FIRST HALF:
Gonzaga 33, USC 30 (3:36): Jun Seok Yeo knocked down a pair of free-throws after being fouled in transition. Fourteen of the Bulldogs’ first 33 points came via the charity stripe.
Gonzaga 31, USC 30 (6:36): Ajayi capped off a 12-5 scoring burst for the Zags with a 3-pointer right in front of the Trojans’ bench. Gregg set up the shot with an offensive rebound from his own miss. Gregg and Ajayi each had a dunk to jumpstart the scoring run.
USC 25, Gonzaga 18 (7:52): Saint Thomas extended the Trojans’ lead with a layup inside off a feed from Josh Cohen, who had a midrange jumper fall just moments prior.
USC 15, Gonzaga 11 (11:42): The Bulldogs offense continued to struggle to generate open shots, ads they started 3-of-11 from the field and had as many turnovers and field goals made through roughly 10 minutes of play. Physical game on both ends of the floor. Each team reached the bonus before the midway point in the half.
Gonzaga 6, USC 6 (15:30): Neither the Bulldogs or Trojans came out of the gate scorching, as they combined to shoot 3-of-10 through the first five minutes of play. Khalif Battle had both of Gonzaga’s two field goals out of the gate. The 6-foot-5 guard knocked down a midrange jumper and a wide-open 3-pointer.
