After scrambling to find an opponent, USC dominates in win over UC Santa Cruz

"Brown's basketball team canceled its USC trip after a deadly shooting, forcing the Trojans to scramble for a replacement opponent in under 24 hours. Musselman faced a complex scheduling puzzle: the replacement opponent had to avoid weakening USC's tournament resume while keeping the team sharp before a holiday break. USC dominated Division III UC Santa Cruz 102-63, though the Banana Slugs' strong three-point shooting in the first half briefly kept them competitive."

"The call came Monday morning, just six days before USC was slated to play its final nonconference contest. In light of the deadly shooting on Brown's campus, its men's basketball team wouldn't make the trip west. If coach Eric Musselman hoped, at first, that USC could find a D-1 program to take Brown's place. But rules limiting the amount of regular-season games a D-1 program can play narrowed that list considerably. It left USC's coaches counting by hand to decide which teams would fit."

"They first considered all the local schools, only to find that none would work. They looked into the teams facing local schools - and couldn't find any there, either. They even looked at Hawaii's schedule, since schools that face Hawaii receive an exemption to allow for an extra game. Only "a select few" schools fit any of the criteria, one person inside the program told The Times."

Brown's men's basketball team canceled its trip to play USC after a deadly shooting on its campus, leaving USC less than 24 hours to find a replacement. Coach Eric Musselman and staff searched for a D-1 opponent but NCAA rules limiting regular-season games left few options. USC considered local teams, opponents of local teams and schools with Hawaii exemptions before identifying a viable replacement. USC instead played Division III UC Santa Cruz and won 102-63. UC Santa Cruz's strong three-point shooting in the first half briefly kept the game competitive. Coaches counted games manually to determine eligible opponents.

Read at Los Angeles Times