Lehigh @ Southern California preview

Lehigh at Southern California

Last Meeting ( Dec 23, 2010 ) Lehigh 49, Southern California 76

USC is ranked 10th nationally and off to 3-0 start but will need to be on letdown alert Wednesday night when it hosts Lehigh. The Trojans are coming off a hard-fought 93-89 overtime at Vanderbilt and looming this weekend is another SEC test, this one against 19th-ranked Texas A&M.

In beating the Commodores on Sunday, USC needed every one of Jordan McLaughlin’s career-high 35 points in overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit. McLaughlin tied the game with his fifth 3-pointer with 25.8 seconds remaining in regulation and then scored the first five points of overtime to help send the Trojans to a win in their first road game of the season. McLaughlin hit 12-of-19 shots, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range, made all six of his free throw attempts and chipped in four assists, two rebounds and two steals while also playing strong defense on Vanderbilt’s late 3-point attempt in regulation. “Jordan is an excellent defender,” USC coach Andy Enfield told reporters afterward. “He gets a lot of steals, gets his hands on a lot of balls and he guards the basketball. … That’s not surprising. That’s expected at this point as one of the best guards in the country.”

TV: 10 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT LEHIGH (3-1): The Mountain Hawks, of the Patriot League, are coming off consecutive home wins over Siena (91-90 in overtime) and Division III Eastern University (95-70), but will now step things up big time with a four-game road trip that also includes stops at Pittsburgh, Princeton and Virginia following the game in L.A. Lehigh has led the Patriot League in scoring the last eight seasons and are off to another strong offensive start, averaging 85.5 points per contest and shooting 44.3 percent from the field. Guards Lance Tejada, a transfer from East Carolina, is leading five players in double figures with 15.8 points per outing while 6-3 backcourt mate Kyle Leufroy is averaging 13.8 and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds.

ABOUT USC (3-0): After his outburst Sunday, McLaughlin is now averaging a team-most 19.7 points while forward Chimezie Metu and swingman Bennie Boatwright are scoring 18.3 apiece. Boatwright entered the Vanderbilt game averaging a team-high 20.5 points but finished with 14 before fouling out late in regulation. The 6-foot-11 Metu is the leading rebounder (8.3) for USC while McLaughlin is pacing the squad with 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals.

TIP-INS

1. This will be the second meeting between the teams with USC rolling to a 76-49 home win on Dec. 23, 2010.

2. Lehigh is 1-8 all-time against Pac-12 foes, beating only Arizona State.

3. The Trojans scored 20 points off 18 Vanderbilt turnovers Sunday and are forcing opponents into an average of 18.7 turnovers per outing so far.