The Stanford men's basketball team will get the new year under way by taking on host USC on Thursday night in a Pac-12 Conference opener at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

Stanford (9-4) is aiming for its third straight victory, which would match its longest winning streak of the year.

The Cardinal also has a chance to even the all-time series with USC, which currently stands at 121-120 in the Trojans' favor.

USC (5-8) has lost seven of its past nine games overall dating to Nov. 20. The Trojans, however, wrapped up nonconference play with a 63-61 overtime home win over Dayton on Sunday.

USC's struggles can be traced to a challenging early schedule that included games against Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and San Diego State.

Picked ninth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll, USC finished 6-26 overall last year and was 1-17 in conference play.

USC is averaging 62.6 points and 34.7 rebounds per game while shooting 41.6 percent but only 32.5 percent from long range and 67.5 percent from the foul line.

Stanford swept last year's season series for the first time since 2005. Stanford came away with a 51-43 victory at Maples Pavilion on New Year's Eve in the first meeting, then posted a 59-47 win at the Galen Center in the February rematch for its first-ever win in the facility.

Stanford is 5-5 in conference openers over the past 10 seasons. The Cardinal has won its past two Pac-12 lid-lifters, most recently edging UCLA (60-59) at Maples Pavilion last year. Since the 1978-79 campaign, Stanford is 18-16 in conference openers (13-6 at home and 5-10 on the road).

Stanford has been picked to finish fourth in this year's Pac-12 preseason media poll, as announced at the conference's Media Day. The fourth-place projection is the highest since the 2005-06 campaign, when the Cardinal was tabbed for second.

Not limited to just a premier shot-blocker, Stanford's Josh Huestis is dominating the boards. After grabbing 14 rebounds in Saturday's win over Lafayette, Huestis has finished up as Stanford's leading rebounder in nine games while posting double-figure rebounding totals in four contests. Huestis is averaging a team-best 8.9 boards per game, bidding to become the first Stanford player to average at least 10.0 rebounds since Curtis Borchardt (11.4) in 2001-02.

Since making his first career start on Dec. 21 at Northwestern, Robbie Lemons has provided Stanford with a much-needed scoring lift. A former walk-on who had appeared in 32 games off the bench over his first two years, Lemons added 12 points (all three-pointers) in 22 minutes against Northwestern. He then finished with seven points and four rebounds versus Lafayette.

Stanford will visit UCLA on Saturday at noon, also televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

In NCAA Division III action, Palo Alto High grad Joseph Lin scored 10 points off the bench to help Hamilton College defeat Ursinus College, 85-77, in the Land of Magic Classic at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's ICI Center on Sunday in Clinton, N.Y.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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