GAME NOTES: The USC Trojans return home to tangle with the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Tuesday night.

For Fullerton, this game represents a chance to build upon its first win of the season, as it was successful against San Jose State in its home opener on Saturday (70-66). The Titans dropped their first two game versus Santa Clara (89-72) and New Mexico (67-59).

USC suffered a 63-61 loss from Penn State on Sunday as part of the Charleston Classic to fall to 2-3 on the season. The setback came on the heels of a 72-70 win over Drexel for the Trojans, who were 1-2 in the Classic. They will be back in action this Sunday at New Mexico.

Although USC only won 11 games last season, one of those victories came against Fullerton, as the Trojans ran away with a 76-62 victory in the fourth game of the season. They have won all four previous meetings with the Titans.

Free-throw shooting was a major factor in Fullerton's win over SJSU on Saturday. The Titans had 29 tries at the foul line and made good on 22 of those attempts. The Spartans were not so fortunate, going 5-of-9 from the charity stripe. The Titans also outshot the Spartans by a small margin (42.3 percent to 41.9). Alex Harris scored a game-high 20 points to ensure that the Titans came away with a victory.

It is early yet, but the Titans are not lighting the scoreboard up at a very strong rate in the first three games. They are netting 67 points per game, while shooting a shade above 41 percent from the floor. Their opponents are sinking 46.2 percent from the floor and averaging 74 points per game. Moses Morgan (16.3 ppg) normally heads up the scoring effort, but he had only 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting against SJSU, although he did tie Joe Boyd for the team lead with seven rebounds. Harris (15 ppg, 3.3 apg) is a fine scorer and distributor, although he is shooting just 39.4 percent from the floor.

USC did itself no favors against Penn State, shooting a miserable 27.3 percent from the field. The poor shooting was their one weakness in the contest, as the Trojans outscored the Nittany Lions at the free-throw line (18-6), while holding a 51-37 edge in rebounds. Strahinj Gavrilovic tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds, but made only 2-of-10 shots from the field.

Although USC is not giving up as much on the defensive end as CSF (66.6 ppg), the Trojans' have not had much success on offense. They are scoring a meager 63.4 points per game, while shooting below 40 percent from the floor as a team. Jordan McLaughlin (13 ppg, 5.4 apg, 2.4 spg) is making great strides as a passer and defender, leading the team in assists and steals as well as scoring. Katin Reinhardt (11.4 ppg) is the only other double figure scorer on the roster, while Clark (8.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Nikola Jovanovic (8.2 ppg, 6 rpg) eat up space on the interior.

Playing at home should help USC find a bit more success at the offensive end. If that should happen, the Trojans will be able to take down the Titans.