Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks look to knock off red-hot USC on Thursday
12/22/2010 3:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Looking to build on a two-game winning streak, the Lehigh men's basketball team heads to Southern California on Thursday for a pre-holiday showdown against the Trojans. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 Pacific). The Mountain Hawks (6-5) look to top a hot USC squad who on Tuesday defeated No. 18 Tennessee, just 16 days after beating No. 19 Texas.Thursday's game will be extra special for four Mountain Hawks, especially senior Michael Ojo, who is from Santa Monica, Calif. Three other Lehigh players reside on the west coast as well - John Adams (Cupertino, Calif.), Jordan Hamilton (Seattle, Wash.) and David Safstrom (Everett, Wash.). Homecomings are fairly common for the Mountain Hawks as head coach Brett Reed tries to schedule games near players' hometowns whenever possible.
It marks Lehigh's first game against a California opponent since facing Cal State Northbridge in Eugene, Oregon, on Nov. 12, 2006. It also marks Lehigh's first game in the state of California since playing at San Diego during the 1999-00 season.
The Mountain Hawks have faced teams from top conferences in the recent past, including last season's NCAA Tournament game against Kansas out of the Big 12. Lehigh hung right with the top-seeded Jayhawks, trailing by only six points with 13 minutes left to play. C.J. McCollum was the story, scoring 26 points, including 10-of-13 from the free throw line, but it wasn't enough as Kansas prevailed. The Mountain Hawks also faced Penn State out of the Big Ten in the season opener, where they held a six-point halftime advantage.
McCollum made history on Monday by tying a Patriot League record with his fourth straight player of the week honor. He became just the second player in league history to pull off the feat and first to do so without sharing any honors. McCollum and the Mountain Hawks have been on fire offensively of late, scoring 557 points over their last seven games for an average of 79.6 per contest.
The sophomore sensation joins Bucknell's Patrick King, who also won four straight player of the week awards during the 1991-92 season. Only six weeks into the season, he is already just the 13th player in Patriot League history with four Player of the Week laurels in a season and is only one away from tying the single-season record, held by American's Garrison Carr, who won five during the 2008-09 campaign.
McCollum's (and career) hasn't just made waves regionally, but also nationally as his numbers stand among the best in the nation. His 22.5 points per game lead the Patriot League and stand 12th in the nation, while his 2.5 steals per game lead the league and rank 20th nationally. He is also second in the Patriot League with 7.7 rebounds per contest. In addition, McCollum's 42 points at Kent State tied UConn's Kemba Walker for the nation's highest single-game scoring output this season.
Lehigh has controlled the Patriot League weekly awards so far this season, winning six of the 12 awards presented thus far. McCollum has won Player of the Week four times, while freshmen Anthony D'Orazio and Mackey McKnight have each won Rookie of the Week once. American, Bucknell and Navy have won two awards apiece.
The Mountain Hawks have utilized the free throw line to their advantage, attempting more from the charity stripe than their opponents in four of their six wins thus far, while getting out-shot in four of their five losses. Overall, the team is shooting 74.2 percent from the line, good for 32nd in the nation, while McKnight is 76th nationally with his 85.7 percentage. That includes a resurgent stretch in which he's hit 32 of his last 34 free throws (94 percent) over his last eight games.
USC has gone through an up and down season thus far, which has included wins over No. 18 Tennessee and No. 19 Texas and a near-upset at No. 3 Kansas, along with tough losses against Rider and Bradley, among others. The Trojans are coming off a thrilling one-point win over the Volunteers on Tuesday, which saw them lead by six at the half before holding on down the stretch. A very balanced attack is led by Nikola Vucevic, who averages almost a double-double (15.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game). Four others are averaging double figures, including starters Maurice and Bryce Jones, scoring at clips of 11.6 and 10.3, respectively. Maurice also leads the team with 4.2 assists per game. USC has a lot of height on its front line, led by a pair of 6-10 upper classmen - Vucevic and Alex Stepheson, who adds 9.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest.
Lehigh has faced four Pac-10 teams in program history, including Washington on two occasions. The most recent came on Nov. 10, 2006, a 77-65 loss at Oregon.
The Mountain Hawks return to Stabler Arena after the holiday for a matchup against Saint Peter's on Dec. 29 before heading to Yale two days later to face the Bulldogs. Tickets for all home games are now on sale and may be purchased on Lehighsports.com or by calling the ticket office at (610) 7LU-GAME.
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Date:
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December 23, 2010
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Opponent:
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USC Trojans
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Tip-off:
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8:30 PM (ET)
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Arena/Capacity:
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Galen Arena/10,258
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Location:
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Los Angeles, Calif.
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Lehigh's Record:
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6-5 overall, 0-0 Patriot League
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USC' Record:
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7-5 overall, 0-0 Pac-10
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Series:
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First Meeting
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Radio:
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Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 and Lehighsports.com with Matt Markus. Pregame coverage gets underway at 8:00.
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Internet Video:
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USCTrojans.com
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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