Rodney Rice notches triple-double in leading USC over Illinois State 87-67 in Hall of Fame Series

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Maryland transfer Rodney Rice had a triple-double of 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead four players in double figures and USC defeated Illinois State 87-67 on Friday night in the opener of the Hall of Fame Series doubleheader at Intuit Dome.

The Trojans (3-0) got 18 points by Chad Baker-Mazara, 14 points from Gabe Dynes and 13 points by Ezra Ausar.

Ty’Reek Coleman scored 16 points and Johnny Kinziger added 15 for the Redbirds (1-2), who won 22 games last season, their most in nine years.

After trailing by 21 in the first half, the Redbirds rallied to start the second. They outscored USC 16-11 to close to 48-42, with Coleman scoring six of his eight to cap the spurt.

From there, the Trojans put the game away. Baker-Mazara scored seven points in a 13-2 run that began with his 3-pointer and ended with another score that extended the lead to 60-44.

Rice and Amarion Dickerson hit consecutive 3s that pushed USC's lead to 76-57.

USC dominated the first half, using a 31-8 run to take a 36-15 lead. Rice had 11 points and Dynes had six, highlighted by two dunks, in the spurt. The Redbirds got consecutive 3s by Kinziger and Mason Klabo to go into halftime trailing 40-26.

The Trojans were coming off a 31-point rout of Manhattan in which their 114 points were the most scored in Galen Center history and the fifth-most in program history.

Illinois State visits Long Beach State on Sunday.

USC hosts Troy on Thursday.

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