USC Trojans Men’s Basketball Fall Late to UNC in First Exhibition

The USC Trojans Men's Basketball squad, coming off a lackluster season the year prior, unofficially began their season on Friday with an exhibition matchup against the UNC Tar Heels. 

The Trojans came into this game more bulked up than they did from last season, adding a twin tandem — McDonald's All-Americans — Darius and Adonis Ratliff. Despite the additions, USC was unable to crawl back from a second-half push from the Tarheels, dropping their exhibition 88-70. 

USC head coach Eric Musselman sent out the starting five, which included Rodney Rice, Alijah Arenas, Jacob Cofie, and both Ratliff brothers. 

Rice led the Trojans with 22 total points in 31 minutes and shot 7-for-15 on the court. 

It was a back-and-forth slugfest to kick things off in the first half, with the Trojans heading into the tunnel with a 39-37 lead. USC capitalized on UNC's early turnovers, converting 24 of their 29 points off turnovers. 

USC was on the defensive, with the help of some seven-footers in the paint, as they recorded five total blocks in the half. They shot noticeably better than the Tar Heels, clocking a 46.9 shooting percentage on 15-32 shots taken. 

UNC outrebounded USC 23-17, but their eight turnovers put them back to square one in trying to create scoring drives. Fast forward to the second half, and the first-half troubles would be wiped away in an instant. 

First-year head coach Michael Malone displayed his previous NBA experience throughout his squad, leading the Tarheels to an explosive 51-31 second-half rout en route to the win. 

They outshot USC in a lopsided 53.6% compared to the Trojans 26.5 %. The Tar Heels went 15-for-28 shooting compared to USC's abysmal 9-for-34 shooting. 

The Tar Heels again outrebounded the Trojans in the second half, 24-16, which greatly impacted their scoring front. 

Senior forward Jarin Stevenson led the scoring for the Tar Heels, scoring 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting (57.1%) with 10 rebounds. 

Though it's just an exhibition, the Trojans displayed a lot of positives that will surely be ironed out throughout the remainder of the season. For one, Arenas, who had 17 points in the loss, showcased spurts of growth in his second go-round as a Trojan. 

Musselman and his squad have two more exhibition games on Oct. 17 — UC San Diego Tritons — and Oct. 23 — San Diego State Aztecs — before kicking off the 2026-27 season on Nov. 2 at the Galen Center.