California Baptist at USC 11/25/20 - College Basketball Picks & Predictions

The California Baptist Lancers visit Galen Center in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday to play the USC Trojans in the opening game of the college basketball regular season for both. California Baptist was 21-10 overall and 10-6 in the Western Athletic Conference last season. The Lancers finished second in the conference to New Mexico State. California Baptist must bounce back from losing its top six players from last season, but with the addition of transfers and freshman the Lancers could be competitive this season.

Guard Ty Rowell returns to the Lancers after recovering from a torn ACL. Russell Barlow, Gorjok Gak, and Elijah Thomas, who transferred from TCU, Florida and St Marys respectively will all make an immediate impact for California Baptist. Barlow and Gak will give California Baptist much needed depth in the paint and Thomas is a solid player at the guard position. The floor leader will be Rowell who was likely the best player for California Baptist last season before being injured.

Last season USC was 22-9 overall and 11-7 in the Pac-12. The Trojans lost four of their five starters including three that had scoring averages in the double figures. The lone returning starter is Ethan Anderson, who scored an average of just 5.5 points per game last season. Isaiah Mobley also returns and last season off the bench averaged 6.2 points per game. Several new faces will be in USC uniforms to start the season.

Transfers Noah Baumann, Tah Eaddy, Isaiah White and Chevez Goddwin have all played in Division 1. Baumann average 10.8 points per game two seasons ago with San Jose State, while Eaddy transfered from Santa Clara where he scored an average of 15.0 points per game two seasons ago and 9.1 points per game last season. Goddwin averaged 11.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last season at Wofford and White scored an average of 14.5 points and pulled down an average of 8.4 rebounds last season with Utah Valley.