Wichtig » first half. The Gauchos were still within 66-59 with 8:16 remain

Some things to watch in the Big Ten on Saturday:GAME OF THE WEEKPenn State at Pittsburgh. Nittany Lions fans arent satisfied with back-to-back 7-6 records, so this game could be a referendum on third-year coach James Franklin. Pitt is recognized as a program on the rise, and that chafes Penn State people who long for the days when their team was relevant for the right reasons. The Lions and Panthers are meeting for the first time since 2000, and the implications are obvious: recruiting edge in the state and bragging rights.BEST MATCHUPIllinois run defense against North Carolinas rushing offense. The Illini, who allowed nearly 250 yards rushing in each of its last three games in 2015, are No. 1 nationally against the run this week after FCS Murray State netted minus-10 yards. Their home game against the Tar Heels will be an indicator of how much progress Illinois will make in Year 1 under the defensive-minded Lovie Smith. The Tar Heels ran for 254 yards while beating Illinois 48-14 last year, and they averaged 8.4 yards a carry in their season-opening loss to Georgia. Elijah Hood, who went for 129 yards against Illinois last year, is back. The Illini have a new stopper in grad transfer LB Hardy Nickerson.INSIDE THE NUMBERSMaryland, which visits FIU, has won three of its last four road openers, including victories at Temple, UConn and South Florida. ... UCF, which plays at No. 5 Michigan, is 2-2 in its last four games against ranked opponents, including wins over top-10 teams Louisville and Baylor in 2013. ... Markell Jones will try to become the first Purdue player to have back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since 2012 when the Boilermakers host Cincinnati. ... Rutgers, which plays FCS Howard at home, has won each of the previous four meetings with the Bison by a combined 165-39. ... Seventeen redshirt freshmen and nine true freshmen made their first appearances for Ohio State last week. ... Wisconsin is going for its 36th straight home non-conference win when it plays Akron. ... Indiana, which hosts Ball State, is trying for an eighth consecutive nonconference win.LONG SHOTIowa State is a 15-point underdog heading into the Cy-Hawk Trophy game at Iowa and is coming off a loss to FCS Northern Iowa. But remember, the visiting team has won four straight in this series.PLAYER TO WATCHNebraska QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw a long touchdown pass against Fresno State last week but was just 5 of 10, and that led the Cornhuskers to rely heavily on the run. Coach Mike Riley is demanding more balance, so well see if Armstrong can deliver against Wyoming. He needs two TD passes to tie the school career record of 56 by Taylor Martinez.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.orgFootball Jerseys Australia . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. 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But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days.LOS ANGELES -- There was plenty for Southern California coach Andy Enfield to smile about after his team put away UC Santa Barbara 96-72 on Sunday night.His biggest smile came when he mentioned the Trojans 25 assists on 33 baskets, a number that even made him overlook his team shooting 35 3-pointers.We shot 40 percent, made 14, but we had 25 assists so I cant get too upset with our players, Enfield said. Weve got some good shooters on this team. But 25 assists, thats a lot. So we did a good job of finding the open man, making the extra pass.The Trojans (6-0) are off to their best start since 2000-01 when they opened with an 8-0 mark.A 6-0 start is great, said Enfield. Were thrilled. I think were all thrilled because weve played some good teams.Bennie Boatwright scored 21 points, Elijah Stewart had 18 points, and Chimezie Metu and Shaqquan Aaron added 15 apiece for the Trojans. Jordan McLaughlin finished with 13 points.Hes much more comfortable, McLaughlin said of Boatwright, who missed the Trojans first two games with upper back spasms. Hes coming off an injury and got out of rhythm. He got the first couple of games out of his system, and now hes back to shooting the ball. Hell be fine.In control throughout, USC remained content to attack the Gauchos from the outside, taking 35 of their 61 shots from beyond the arc, making 14.Thheyve got really good shooters, and they shoot the ball extremely well Gaucho coach Bob Williams said.dddddddddddd They shot the ball really well when they got up.Jalen Canty had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead UC Santa Barbara (0-5). Gabe Vincent scored 15 points and Alex Hart added 14 for the Gauchos, which outscored the Trojans 46-30 in the paint.The Gauchos scored the first basket of the game only to see the Trojans lead from the 18:50 mark of the first half. The Gauchos were still within 66-59 with 8:16 remaining before USC pulled away.The last five, six minutes the roof came off for them, and we didnt play very well, said Williams. We fell apart the last five, six, seven minutes.BIG PICTUREThe Gauchos are 0-5, but opened last season with a 2-7 mark before rebounding to finish 19-14 overall, 11-5 in the Big West Conference.USC has won 15 consecutive non-conference games at the Galen Center, beating UCSB in 13 out of the last 14 meetings. The Gauchos have not beaten the Trojans since 2002.UP NEXTUC Santa Barbara: The Gauchos play their first home game of the season against Sonoma State on Thursday night.USC: The Trojans play on the road for the first time this season Wednesday night at San Diego. ' ' '