Exhibition Smooths Out USC

USC senior forward Jeff McMillan had 16 points to lead six teammates in double figures as the Trojans beat The Master’s College, 94-56, in both schools’ final exhibition on Friday night before 821 at the Lyon Center.

Freshman guard Nick Young added a double-double for USC with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Senior forward Lavar Simmons led the Mustangs with 18 points.

“We’re on the right track,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “It’s not really a team you want to play in an exhibition. They’re pretty good, [but] we came out and kind of dictated the game.

“It was nice to have balanced scoring. The offense we’re running this year is geared toward having everyone involved.”

USC, which led by as many as 46 points, used a 25-3 run in the first half and a tough man-to-man defense to pull away from The Master’s, an NAIA school from Santa Clarita.

“We’re getting closer,” McMillan said. “We have some rough edges to rub out, but we should be OK. We just need to execute our offense all the way through.”

Senior forward Gregg Guenther (sore back) was held out as a precautionary measure.

Also scoring in double figures for the Trojans -- Errick Craven (14 points), Rory O’Neil (13 points), Nick Curtis (12 points) and Emanuel Willis (12 points), who made all six of his shots.

-- Paul Gutierrez

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In the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament games: At Berkeley, E.J. Rowland’s 17 points and 12 rebounds helped Saint Mary’s beat cold-shooting California, 61-52, in a second-round game. Earlier, David Jobe had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead UC Riverside over Belmont, 74-65, in a consolation game. At Syracuse, N.Y., Hakim Warrick scored 20 points to lead No. 6-ranked Syracuse over Princeton, 56-45. At Birmingham, Ala., No. 12 Mississippi State beat Birmingham-Southern, 55-48. The Bulldogs’ senior star, Lawrence Roberts, who sat out because of a broken nose he suffered in the Bulldogs’ first exhibition game, will play when Mississippi State takes on Syracuse in Thursday’s semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

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South Florida announced that senior guard Bradley Mosley, the team’s second-leading scorer last season with a 14.6-point average, was diagnosed with renal cell cancer and will sit out the 2004-05 season.

“As sad as we are, our sadness is certainly surpassed by our support and our hope and our confidence that Bradley will overcome this and will be another survivor,” Coach Robert McCullum said of Mosley, 21, who joined the team last season after two years at Daytona Beach Community College.

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North Carolina announced that junior guard Raymond Felton has been suspended one game for playing in an uncertified summer league game.

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Clemson freshman guard Troy Mathis will be ineligible to play this season, but his suspension for a Sept. 6 on-campus fight was reduced by Clemson President James Barker, paving the way for Mathis’ return next season. Charged with assault and battery, Mathis has applied for a pretrial intervention program.

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In women’s top 25 games: No. 3 Louisiana State got 25 points from Seimone Augustus and beat Arizona State, 65-54, in the Women’s Sports Foundation tournament title game at Baton Rouge, La.

In the first round of the Preseason WNIT: At Durham, N.C., Mistie Williams and Monique Currie each scored 20 points to lift No. 6 Duke over Davidson, 89-69. ... At Columbus, Ohio, co-No. 10 Ohio State beat Bowling Green, 89-41. ... At South Bend, Ind., Courtney LaVere’s 18 points led co-No. 10 Notre Dame over Illinois State, 92-73. ... At Tucson, Shannon Hobson scored 21 points to lead No. 24 Arizona over Saint Mary’s, 87-72.