USC TONIGHT

By Ben Bolch

Dec. 21, 2005 12 AM PT

vs. No. 17 North Carolina, 7:30, FSN West

Site -- Sports Arena.

Radio -- 1540.

Records -- USC 7-2, North Carolina 6-1.

Update -- USC senior guard Dwayne Shackleford returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to play after sitting out the Trojans’ 76-53 victory over Alcorn State on Sunday with a swollen left knee. The Trojans are 0-7 against North Carolina and have not defeated a ranked team since beating then-No. 23 California, 79-62, on March 14, 2003.

Tickets -- (213) 740-4672.

-- Ben Bolch

USC Sports

Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

USC TONIGHT

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