Culver City Observer -

The USC men’s basketball team has announced its schedule for the 2016-17 season. Included are all of the nonconference games and the Pac-12 opponent and date windows for games. The Pac-12 schedule is expected to be finalized by early September when television assignments are determined.

The 2016-17 Trojans are coming off a 21-13 season and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. USC returns three starters from that team, including leading-scorer junior Jordan McLaughlin who averaged 13.4 points and 4.7 assists per game while being named Pac-12 honorable mention. USC tied for 19th in the country by averaging 80.5 points per game and tied a school record with four 100-point games last season.

USC will open its regular season with a home game against Montana on Nov. 11 and will play 13 nonconference games before Pac-12 play. USC will also host Omaha on Nov. 13, New Orleans on Nov. 22, SMU on Nov.25, UCSB on Nov. 27, Pepperdine on Dec. 11, Troy on Dec. 17 and Cornell on Dec. 19, the last two games as part of the Las Vegas Classic. USC will also play Missouri State on Dec. 22 and either DePaul or Wyoming on Dec. 23 as part of the Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

USC will also play two true road games during the nonconference slate. The Trojans will travel to College Station, Texas to face Texas A&M on Nov. 18 and to San Diego, Calif. to face San Diego on Nov. 30.

The Trojans will also face BYU at Staples Center on Dec. 3 as part of the inaugural Hoophall LA tournament.

The Pac-12 Conference schedule is set as far as the conference opponent(s) and the week of each game, but specific dates will not be finalized until the television schedule is announced in early September. The Pac-12 proved once again last season that it was one of the toughest conferences in the country with seven teams earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Trojans will begin the conference slate of games on the road the week of Dec. 28-Jan.1 at Oregon and Oregon State. The Trojans will then host the same two schools the week of Feb. 8-12.

USC will play its first two Pac-12 home games vs. California and Stanford the week of Jan. 4-8. That Trojans will face those schools only once during the regular season.

USC will also face Colorado and Utah once during the 2016-17 regular season, facing them on the road the week of Jan. 11-15.

The Trojans will host Arizona and Arizona State the week of Jan. 18-22 and then travel to the desert to face them in Arizona the week of Feb. 22-26.

The first matchup with rival UCLA will take place at the Galen Center the week of Jan. 25-29. USC then will travel crosstown to take on the Bruins the week of Feb. 15-19.

USC will travel up to Washington and Washington State the week of Feb. 1-5 and will host the Huskies and Cougars the week of March 1-4.

The Pac-12 Tournament will be contested at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. from March 8-11.

Fans interested in purchasing tickets should call 213-740-GOSC (4672) and press #3 today. For season tickets fans may also purchase direct by going to usctrojans.com.