GAME NOTES: The USC Trojans and the Penn State Nittany Lions will tangle in the fifth-place game of the Charleston Classic at TD Arena on Sunday afternoon.

USC lost its opening-round contest with Akron by a convincing 66-46 margin, but it avoided falling to the seventh-place game by putting together a big comeback effort against Drexel on Friday with a 72-70 victory. The Trojans are now 2-2 on the year, alternating losses with wins since dropping their opener to Portland State (76-68).

Penn State also overcame a double-digit second-half deficit on Friday against Cornell and was lifted to a thrilling 72-71 victory on a game-winning bucket from D.J. Newbill as time expired. The Nittany Lions are 3-1 on the season, with their only loss coming to Charlotte in the opening round of this event, 106-97.

In the only previous meeting between the programs back in 1954, Penn State captured a 70-61 victory.

Trailing by 14 early in the second half, USC chipped away at its deficit down the stretch before eventually taking the lead for good with 3:23 to play on a Nikola Jovanovic layup, and it held on to win by a two-point margin when Drexel's last-second 3-pointer did not fall. After shooting just 40.7 percent from the field in the first half, the team got hot in the second stanza by making 56.3 percent of its shots, and it also benefited from winning the turnover battle, 21-9. USC had seven players score at least seven points, led by Darion Clark's 15. Julian Jacobs (12 points) and Strahinj Gavrilovic (10 points) were integral off the bench, and Jordan McLaughlin tallied 11 points, eight assists and four steals.

On the season, the Trojans only score 64.0 ppg on 43.7 percent field goal shooting, but luckily they have played stellar defense in allowing just 67.5 ppg. McLaughlin leads the team in scoring with 13.3 ppg and is also the facilitator with 5.8 apg. Katin Reinhardt is the only other player in double figures with 10.8 ppg.

The Nittany Lions were able to cut into an 11-point second-half deficit on Friday but they still trailed by four with just 14 seconds remaining. After a John Johnson 3-pointer with four seconds left, they forced Cornell to turn the ball over, which led to Newbill's dramatic game-winner just before the buzzer sounded. Penn State made good on greater than 60 percent of its field goal tries over the final 20 minutes, and it gained extra possessions by winning the rebounding battle, 37-28. Newbill was outstanding with 26 points on 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Johnson provided a spark off the bench with 17 points and Shep Garner chipped in with 10 points.

PSU is a well-rounded squad this season, as it outshoots its opponents from the field, 45.6 percent to 33.3 percent, while boasting impressive margins in terms of scoring (+11.0) and rebounding (+5.3). Newbill is the unquestioned catalyst with 20.3 ppg while owning outstanding percentages from beyond the arc (.667) and the free-throw line (.929). Garner (12.0 ppg) and Johnson (11.3 ppg) are solid complementary options.

USC's defense should be able to slow down the pace of this one and make it a close game, but with a red-hot Newbill on its side, expect Penn State to have enough firepower to outlast the Trojans.