Aztecs basketball is back in San Diego and Friday night we get a treat of an exhibition game as USC and their loose lipped, shirtless maniac of a coach Eric Musselman bring their team to Viejas Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm PST and will not be available on television.
Fans looking to listen to the action can do so by tuning into AM Sports 760 the flagship of SDSU athletics.
The Trojans bring in their no. 21 AP Poll ranking and are one of five Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25. Joining them in the poll are No. 3 Illinois, No. 6 Michigan State, No. 16 Michigan, and No. 22 UCLA. The Trojans have missed the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two years, but now enter into year 3 with a very talented roster from top to bottom.
Friday’s game will be the first time SDSU has faced a Musselman led team since the infamous Maui Invitational fiasco where the then Arkansas Razorbacks coach flipped up the ‘L’ sign to SDSU players as the teams ended their game.
For the Aztecs, despite losing that day, went on to earn a Final Four victory and National Championship runner-up place in that magical 2022-2023 season. Musselman’s Razorbacks lost in Sweet Sixteen round against eventual National Champion UConn.
The time is now for SDSU fans to welcome back the long time reviled head coach and his program too scared to risk it all in a regular season contest. Here are 3 things to keep an eye on in this Southern California exhibition game.
Luka Skoric
Friday marks the first opportunity for Croatian newcomer Luka Skoric to be added into the Aztecs mix. The 23-year-old Croatian comes from KK Cibona as a developmental piece, but can play both forward spots.
Skoric shot over 53% from the field in limited minutes overseas. But he does show really nice perimeter touches and shooting near 40% from behind the three point line makes him a very interesting addition to what we saw against Arizona.
If those abilities translate into Friday vs USC, it could be a very nice factor in stretching the court for the Aztecs. Though his 6’9″ height is balanced by his slim build, he won’t be your big body banging down in the paint, but his maturity and smarts should allow him to take advantage of defensive switches and be disruptive as he learns more of Dutcher’s defensive standards.
No matter what we can list here or project, there still so many unknowns about how Skoric will fit in to this team and this game vs USC. And that is what makes it such an interesting factor to keep an eye on.
Eric Reibe
Eric Reibe the huge 7’1″ center out of Hanover, Germany played in all 40 contests for Connecticut’s NCAA runner-up team last year. As a freshman, starting in five early games in the year was a ton of experience for him as well.
When the amazing tournament run the Huskies had finished, he averaged 5.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game at over 13.8 minutes per contest. Not too shabby for such a quality program.
Now he is in Southern California trying to help take the Trojans up another level. The Aztecs will get to face him in his first action in that program. There may be no better time to take advantage than now.
Reibe is big, moves well without the ball, has excellent touch on his shots and handles, and he gains position against defenses while using his body to shield against multiple defenders.
Will the Aztecs big men of Bear Cherry, Luka Skoric, and Thokbor Majak be able to gang up on him effectively? We’ll find out.
Though not as potent in my opinion as Arizona’s Motiejus Kreivas, hopefully that experience for Brian Dutcher’s team works well for the Aztecs collective defensive discipline against the younger Reibe.
USC will do just fine if Reibe’s is not on his game either way, with Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas both more than capable scorers. But having that big man in the mix certainley will be interesting to see how they can take things up a level or two against the Aztecs.
USC is coming off a tough battle against UCSD where they edged out the Tritons 80-74.
More Cohesion
Exhibition game-1 at Arizona in the books—exhibition game-2 coming up. The Aztecs turned the ball over way too many times and down the stretch couldn’t stop UofA’s quality at home.
The rebounding was tough against a monster down low and several Aztecs stars struggled in their first game back together. All of this hopefully shows some improvement over the last week.
Making their debut in front of The Show and SDSU faithful, there may be some early jitters to make the perfect play or have the hot start. But ultimately what Aztec Nation wants to see is energy, hustle, smart shots and togetherness.
These were some things that showed glimpses of in last week’s 82-67 road loss to UofA, that despite the outcome still left Aztecs fans feeling optimistic after the game ended.
Though there were mismatches Dutcher couldn’t account for and hiccups that the offense couldn’t anticipate correctly, overall the team looked full of desire and had the competitiveness you love to see.
Big Bear Cherry impressed with his shot blocking, touch around the basket, and big body being a commanding presence to contend with.
Isaiah Sy shot lights out, connecting from deep multiple times and in really top quality fashion. The aggressiveness of Chance Gladden was an eyebrow raiser as he showed physicality that seemed to be very comfortable in just his first game on the West Coast. And Tae Simmons’ hustle mentality carried over nicely as he continued to body up on defense and show the toughness needed to stand out as a leader.
Now if all can be put together with multiple contributions from the rotational players, then we will be cooking with grease.
David Torresani could provide a spark, Luca Vincini should have more of an idea how the game is officiated, and if Latrell Davis gets hot—watch out.
Elzie Harrington and Chance Gladden will carry out the offense and keep an eye how those two play off each other in the scorer/facilitator roles.
Can’t wait.
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