Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas Give Eric Musselman an Elite Backcourt

High in the Sierra Nevada mountains inside Stateline’s Tahoe Blue Event Center on Sunday night, Wichita State threw every trapping look in its playbook at USC’s guards and still couldn’t slow the avalanche. Senior guard Rodney Rice carved up the Shockers for 32 points and nine assists while 6-foot-7 sophomore guard Alijah Arenas poured in 30 points of his own, lifting Eric Musselman’s No. 21 Trojans to a thrilling 93-86 neutral-court victory.

Coupled with a dominant 95-63 season-opening rout of Milwaukee at the Galen Center—where 6-foot-11 freshman forward Adonis Ratliff announced his arrival with 25 points—2-0 USC is averaging a blistering 94.0 points per contest. Entering Wednesday night’s late-night road test at California as a steady -8.5 favorite and priced at +5000 to win the 2027 national crown, Musselman finally possesses the star backcourt firepower required to contend in the Big Ten.

Rodney Rice and Alijah Arenas Form a Lethal Two-Level Scoring Duo

Eric Musselman’s NBA-style pro sets have always thrived when two high-usage perimeter creators can play simultaneously on and off the ball, and the pairing of Rice and Arenas already looks like one of America’s premier backcourts. Rice has handed out exactly nine assists in each of USC’s first two victories before exploding for 32 points in the Lake Tahoe Classic, blending deep pull-up range with surgical pick-and-roll reads that punish drop coverage.

Beside him, the smooth 6-foot-7 Arenas hauled down eight rebounds in the opener before uncorking 30 points against Wichita State, shooting effortlessly over smaller guards from both the elbows and the perimeter. Reinforced on the wing by battle-tested 6-foot-4 senior guard KJ Lewis, 6-foot-5 senior Isaac Bruns, senior Jalen Cox, and junior guards Jadis Jones and Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, USC averages 19.5 assists against 12.0 turnovers per game (1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio).

Adonis Ratliff Leads a Long, Rim-Running Trojan Frontline

Even when opposing defenses commit two bodies to Rice and Arenas on the perimeter, freshman forward Adonis Ratliff makes them pay dearly around the rim. After torching Milwaukee for 25 points in his collegiate debut, the bouncy 6-foot-11 freshman dominated the glass with 13 rebounds and highlight-reel finishes above the rim against Wichita State, giving USC an instant interior star who thrives as a vertical lob target.

Musselman surrounds Adonis Ratliff with enviable frontcourt length: twin 7-foot freshman center Darius Ratliff, 7-foot-1, 260-pound sophomore center Eric Reibe, 6-foot-10, 231-pound junior forward Jacob Cofie, 6-foot-10 senior Joshua Hughes, 6-foot-9 freshman Christian Collins, and 6-foot-10 freshman Onyeka Joe Agu. That multi-positional athleticism allows USC to switch screens aggressively while converting 55.4 percent of its two-point shots (46-of-83) inside the paint.

Relentless Foul-Drawing and 81.8% Free-Throw Accuracy Fuel 1.580 Efficiency

Digging into USC’s 94.0-point scoring average uncovers Musselman’s trademark analytical weapon: living at the free-throw line. Across wins over Milwaukee and Wichita State, the Trojans have attempted a staggering 33.0 free throws per game and knocked down 27.0 per contest—an elite 81.8 percent team clip (54-of-66) that turns close late-game possessions into automatic points while saddling opponent starters with foul trouble.

Combined with 50.4 percent overall shooting (60-of-119) and a selective 7.0 made three-pointers on 18.0 attempts per game (38.9 percent), USC boasts a 0.56 shooting efficiency and a towering 1.580 scoring efficiency—total points generated per field-goal attempt. The defensive side requires tightening ahead of Big Ten play: surrendering 86 points to hot-shooting Wichita State pushed USC’s opponent average to 74.5 points per game alongside 19.0 personal fouls and a modest 35.5 rebounds per night (9.0 offensive), making disciplined weak-side rebounding a clear point of emphasis in Berkeley.

Berkeley Road Test Precedes Palm Springs and Fort Worth Showcases

Wednesday’s 11:00 PM ET visit to Haas Pavilion to renew an old California rivalry against the 2-1 Golden Bears marks USC’s first true hostile road environment of 2026-27. Navigating Berkeley cleanly behind poised guard play, steady ball security, and crisp defensive rebounding would send the Trojans back to Los Angeles at 3-0 ahead of a three-game Galen Center homestand against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Tarleton State, and Louisiana.

Thanksgiving week brings neutral-site measuring sticks in Palm Springs at Acrisure Arena against physical SEC foe South Carolina on November 25 and perennial Mountain West contender Utah State on November 26, before a marquee December 13 neutral-floor collision against No. 16 Texas Tech (+2700 title odds) inside Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Stacked up against an eighteen-team Big Ten race featuring cross-country travel, banking nonconference road and neutral victories now is vital.

Big Ten Contention Outlook and March 2027 Upside Verdict

Guard play and free-throw shooting win tight games in March, and very few teams in the country can match Rice, Arenas, and KJ Lewis closing out late half-court possessions while hitting 81.8 percent at the charity stripe. As Eric Reibe, Jacob Cofie, and the seven-foot Ratliff brothers grow more comfortable anchoring half-court ball-screen defense without fouling, USC’s defensive ceiling and defensive rebounding rate should climb steadily before Big Ten play resumes in January 2027.

In a wide-open eighteen-team Big Ten chase behind No. 3 Illinois (+1200), No. 5 Michigan State (+1800), No. 9 UCLA, and No. 20 Michigan (+6000), Musselman’s proven history of rapid transfer-and-freshman integration makes No. 21 USC a dangerous conference dark horse capable of pushing deep into the 2027 NCAA Tournament’s second weekend and beyond.