Undefeated Saint Mary’s takes to Palm Desert, Calif., for a Thanksgiving night matchup with Southern California in the Acrisure Classic on Thursday.
The Gaels (6-0) head into the two-day event seeking their first-ever win over USC (5-1). Saint Mary’s is 0-10 against the Trojans all-time, though the programs have not played since December 2009.
Saint Mary’s heads into Palm Desert with four players averaging from 12.3 points per game to Augustas Marciulionis’ team-leading 14.7 points per game. Among them is Paulius Murauskas, who is putting up 14.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest.
The Gaels’ most recent game was an 80-66 home win over Cal Poly on Saturday. Luke Barrett recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds for Saint Mary’s, and Mitchell Saxen went for 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Barrett is putting up 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, up from averages of 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 2023-24.
“Number one is probably the cardio,” Barrett said of what he worked on before the season to prepare for a more prominent role. “I knew I’d be playing around double the minutes. (The coaching staff) made that clear to me that I had to get in really good shape. I was more of a spark guy last year.”
Conditioning will be a factor for both Saint Mary’s and USC throughout the weekend, with both teams set for back-to-back games. Arizona State and New Mexico meet in the event’s other game on Thursday, with the two contests’ winners and losers set to face on Friday.
For USC, the Acrisure Classic marks the first games away from home under first-year coach Eric Musselman. The Trojans closed their season-opening, six-game homestand on Sunday with a late-game surge to hold off pesky Grambling State, 80-69.
USC’s Chibuzo Agbo shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range en route to 21 points, his second game of 20-plus points since being moved from the starting lineup to a bench role. Desmond Claude added 14 points, five rebounds and five assists while also playing in a reserve role for the first time this season.
“He is still such a young player developing so much of his game,” Musselman said of Claude, a junior transfer from Xavier.
The Acrisure Classic provides USC with a new measuring stick before the Trojans begin their first Big Ten Conference slate next week vs. Oregon.
“The biggest thing when playing on a holiday is to stay focused,” Musselman said. “We have a job to do. We have back-to-back games, so staying healthy is super important for back-to-back games.”
–Field Level Media
