DEROZAN LEADS USC WITH 29 POINTS IN CARDINAL & GOLD GAME

- Three Trojans post double-doubles -

LOS ANGELES – Freshman DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points to lead the Gold team to a 90-74 victory over the Cardinal team at the annual Cardinal and Gold Scrimmage held today (Oct. 26) at the Galen Center.

Juniors Daniel Hackett and Taj Gibson added 18 and 16 points respectively for the Gold team while freshman Leonard Washington led the Cardinal team with 20 points.

DeRozan led all scorers at the half with 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the fl oor and 5-for-5 from the line as the Gold team built a 44-27 lead at the break. The Cardinal squad mounted a late comeback in the second half as redshirt freshman Mamadou Diarra scored 12 of his 16 points and eight of his 12 rebounds after halftime to cut the margin to 75-65 with 4:45 to go, but they would get no closer.

Diarra along with junior Alex Stepheson (14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks) and Gibson (16 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks) all posted double-doubles.

DeRozan, a 2008 McDonald’s All-American, scored his 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting and added three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

In addition to his 18 points for the Gold team, Hackett grabbed eight rebounds, had fi ve assists and three steals.

Also scoring in double fi gures in the game for the Gold team were senior forward Keith Wilkinson with 11 and redshirt freshman James Dunleavy with 10 points.

Sophomore transfer guard Donte Smith had eight points and two assists and freshman guard Percy Miller had four points, four rebounds and two steals for the Carindal team.

USC hosted its annual Dribble For The Cure charity event before the game to raise funds for pediatric cancer research and treatment.

USC will host Azusa Pacifi c in an exhibition game in the Galen Center on Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and then open the regular season against UC Irvine on Nov. 15 in the Galen Center at 12:30 p.m.


Oct. 26, 2008