University Southern California Trojans
USC Opens Pac-10 Play Hosting Preseason Favorite Washington
December 28, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2010
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The USC Trojans (8-5) will host the Washington Huskies (8-3) at the Galen Center on Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m. The game can be watched on a delayed basis on USCTrojans.com. USC has won four of its last five games.
BREAKING DOWN WASHINGTON -- Washington, the preseason Pac-10 favorite, has been led by guard Isaiah Thomas who is one of three Huskies in double-figures in scoring with a 15.8 average. Washington is averaging 90.5 points per game and has scored over 100 points four times. Their three losses were vs. Kentucky (74-67), vs. Michigan State (76-71) and at Texas A&M (63-63). USC won both meetings last season and lead the all-time series 67-65 (2 wins in 2008 later vacated due to NCAA penalty).
USC SHUTS DOWN LEHIGH -- In his first game at home as a Trojan, guard Jio Fontan scored 21 points to help lead USC to a 76-49 victory over Lehigh. Fontan was 4-for-4 from three-point range and added four assists and four steals. Alex Stepheson (11 points/14 rebounds) and Nikola Vucevic (16 points/10 rebounds) posted double-doubles and Donte Smith added 13 points off the bench. USC held Lehigh to an opponent low .315 shooting percentage in the game.
WASHINGTON STATE ON DECK -- Washington State reached the finals of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawai'i where it fell 84-68 to Butler on Dec. 25 and comes to Los Angeles with a 10-2 record. The Cougars will play at UCLA on Dec. 29 before USC hosts them at the Galen Center on Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. The game will be aired on Fox Sports West. WSU has been led by junior Klay Thompson who tops all Pac-10 scorers with a 22.3 per game average. USC leads the all-time series 66-43, but lost both games to the Cougars last season and is 4-11 in the last 15 meetings with Washington State.
FONTAN NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK -- Guard Jio Fontan, who transfered to USC from Fordham last January and played in his first game for the Trojans on Dec. 18 at No. 3 Kansas, was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for Dec. 20-26. Fontan scored 13 points and had four assists and three steals in the win at Tennessee on Dec. 21 and scored 21 points with four assists and four steals in the win vs. Lehigh on Dec. 23. He averaged 17.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 steals in the two games. Fontan made the A-10 All-Rookie team as a freshman in 2009 (15.3 ppg, 4.7 apg) and averaged 15.0 points per game in five games last season at Fordham.
TROJANS NEAR PERFECT IN TOUGH STRETCH -- USC went 3-1 in a four-game stretch against three ranked teams (Texas, Kansas & Tennessee) and a 7-2 Northern Arizona team from Dec. 5-21. First USC defeated No. 19 Texas 73-56 and NAU 60-52 at home on Dec. 5 and 11 respectively. Then USC lost 70-68 at No. 3 Kansas, narrowly missing on snapping its 64-game home winning streak. USC followed that up with a 65-64 win at No. 19/18 Tennessee on Dec. 21, just the fourth nonconference home loss (41-4) in the Bruce Pearl era.
TEAM TROJAN -- Six of the players in USC's eight-man rotation have had a game with at least 15 points scored and the other two have had 12 points in a game. Six different Trojans have led the team or tied for game-high honors in assists, steals, scoring and blocks.
DEFENSE TO BE TESTED -- USC's defense which has allowed an average of 58.2 points per game and held opponents to a .353 shooting percentage (94-for-266) in the last five games will be put to the test by the high-octane UW offense. The Huskies have averaged 90.5 points per game and made 48.8 percent of their shots, while scoring 90 or more points seven times.
SOPHOMORE CLASS HAS SURGERY -- Evan Smith, the Trojans' only sophomore scholarship player, had surgery to repair his left glenoid labrum on Dec. 23 and will miss the entire season. Dr. Thomas Vangsness performed the surgery at USC Hospital. Smith has been sidelined with the injury since early in the preseason practice schedule, but is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2011-12 season. He averaged 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 8 games for USC in 2009-10. Smith was USC's only remaining recruit from the 2009-10 class.
SIMMONS IS KRYPTONITE AGAIN - Senior guard Marcus Simmons has frequently been called upon in his career to guard the opponent's top scorer and on Dec. 5 vs. No. 19 Texas was asked to guard Texas' Jordan Hamilton, averaging 21.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Simmons held Hamilton to 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting and limited him to four rebounds. The next game against NAU on Dec. 11, he covered Cameron Jones who was coming off a 27-point performance and had averaged 20.0 points in the previous 5 games. Simmons held Jones to 10 points on 4 of 14 shooting. He was also matched up against Tennessee's top scorer Scotty Hopson on Dec. 21 and was part of the reason he was held to just eight points. On Dec. 23 vs. Lehigh, Simmons was matched up against C.J. McCollum who was averaging 22.5 points and helped hold him to seven point. Simmons has started USC's first 12 games and averaged 5.5 points and 3.2 rebounds.
STEPHESON LENDING A HAND...JUST ONE -- Senior Alex Stepheson scored six points, had three blocks and grabbed 13 rebounds in the season opener vs. UC Irvine on Nov. 13, but also suffered a fracture in his left hand. Since then he wears a cast between games and a brace during games. He had an X-ray on Monday Nov. 22 which showed he is healing well and since has averaged 12.6 points (101 total) and 10.3 rebounds (82 total) in the eight games while hitting 60.8 percent of his shots (45-for-74). He has had a double-double in 4 of the last 8 games.
SENIOR SHARP-SHOOTER SMITH -- Senior guard Donte Smith scored 14 consecutive points for USC in the second half of the victory over NAU on Dec. 11 after the Lumberjacks had cut the lead to three points. In Smith's second-half barrage was four three-pointers and a layup which put the game away. Smith scored a career-high 22 points in the game and made a career-best five three-pointers. He followed that up with 20 points in 20 minutes at Kansas on Dec. 18, also making five three-pointers and hitting six of eight shots overall. He was held to six points at Tennessee, but hit a big three-pointer at the end of the game. Smith is coming off the bench and averaging 10.0 points for USC, fourth-best on the team. He leads the team lead with 30 three-pointers made and leads the team with a 77.8 percent success rate from the free throw line.
ACTION JACKSON - Freshman forward Garrett Jackson suffered a fractured nose in preseason practice and eventually had it reset. As a result, Jackson began his college career behind a mask, wearing protective gear until the game at Nebraska on Nov. 27. With the mask removed, Jackson went 3-for-3 from the field and scored seven points in nine minutes. It wasn't really a big change for the freshman, who after adjusting to the college game and shooting with a mask on, has been one of the Trojans' top shooters. In his first 13 collegiate games, Jackson has hit 72.4 percent of his shots from the field (21-for-29).
FACING THE BEST -- USC's 2010-11 schedule features 21 of 31 games against teams which finished the 2009-10 season with a record of .500 or better. Among the nonconference highlights were games against perennial national powers: at Kansas on Dec. 18 (L, 70-68), at Tennessee on Dec. 21 (W, 65-64) and a home game vs. Texas on Dec. 5 (W, 73-56). Of USC's first 13 opponents, 11 are at .500 or better for a combined record of 98-59 (.624 winning percentage).
DRIVEN BY DEFENSE -- USC has held 77 teams to 60 points or less in the last six seasons (178 games), including six this season. The Trojans have held eight teams this season (7-1) to 40 percent or less shooting from the field, 17 last season (13-4) and have held 94 teams (75-19) under 40 percent shooting in the last six seasons. USC held Sac. State to 23.0 percent shooting on Dec. 8, 2009 the lowest percentage by a Trojan opponent since LMU shot 22.4 percent from the field on Dec. 9, 1998. USC held it opponents in the 2009-10 season to a 38.4 shooting percentage, best in the Pac-10. USC's opponent low this season is 31.5 percent by Lehigh on Dec. 23.
CLEANING THE GLASS -- USC has won the battle of the boards in 9 of 13 games this season and has outrebounded the opposition 463-419.
