University Southern California Trojans
USC Hosts California Saturday At Galen
January 21, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The USC Trojans (11-8, 3-3) will host the California Golden Bears (9-9, 2-4) at the Galen Center on Jan. 22 at 8:00 p.m. The game will be aired live on Fox Sports West with Paul Sunderland and Brandon Granville calling the action and Nichelle Turner providing sideline commentary. Chris McGee and Bob Boyd will handle the pre- and postgame shows.
BREAKING DOWN THE BEARS -- California is coming off an 86-84 loss at UCLA on Jan. 20 when the Bruins' Reeves Nelson tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer. The Bears have been led in scoring by junior forward Harper Kamp (14.2 ppg) and in rebounds by senior center Markhuri Sanders-Frison (7.9 rpg). USC and California split the 2010 season series and USC trails in the all-time series 127-119 (1 win in 2008 later vacated due to NCAA penalty).
USC BOUCES BACK WITH STIFLING "D" AGAINST STANFORD -- USC held Stanford to 22.2 percent shooting and cruised to a 65-42 win at the Galen Center on Jan. 20. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for USC which shot 55.6 percent from the field. The 42 points allowed were a season low for Stanford and by a USC opponent and the shooting percentage was the lowest in the shot clock era by a Cardinal team. Nikola Vucevic led USC with 20 points and Alex Stepheson added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
ARIZONA STATE ON DECK -- USC's next game will be at Arizona State (9-9, 1-5) on Jan. 27 at 6:30 p.m. (MT) where the Trojans will be attempting to snap a five-game conference road losing streak. ASU is coming off a 78-61 loss at WSU on Jan. 20 and will play at No. 20 Washington on Jan. 22 before hosting USC. The Sun Devils have been led in scoring by Trent Lockett (13.3) and Ty Abbott (13.5) though 18 games. The teams split the 2010 season series with USC winning 47-37 at home and falling 59-54 on the road. USC leads the all-time series 49-33 (2 wins in 2008 later vacated by NCAA penalty). USC has lost four straight in Tempe, Ariz.
DEFENSE KEYS WINS -- USC regrouped on the defensive end with a return home, holding Stanford to 22.2 percent shooting (14-for-63). In the losses at Oregon on Jan. 13 (42.9) and at Oregon State on Jan. 15 (55.8), USC allowed the opposition to make a combined 48.5 percent of its shots from the field (48-for-99). In the previous eight games, USC went 6-2 and held its opponents to a combined 37.3 shooting percentage with no team shooting more than 40.0 percent. During that stretch, USC held Kansas to 17.3 points below its season average, UW to 55 points in regulation, 35.5 points below its average, WSU to 56 points (21.3 points below its average) and UCLA to 52 points, (21.6 below its average). USC is 10-1 when holding its opponent to under 40 percent shooting.
SOMETHING SEEMS DIFFERENT -- After faltering on the road trip to Oregon, USC returned home and defeated Stanford, 65-42. The Trojans improved to 9-2 at home and are 1-5 on the road. USC held Stanford to 22.2 percent shooting and has held the opposition to 36.9 percent from the field in 11 home games. In six road games, USC's opponent has made 45.9 percent from the floor. In home games USC outrebounds the opposition by 6.5 rebounds per game, while being beaten on the glass by 5.6 rebounds in road contests. USC has scored about the same amount of points per game in home and road games (-1.9 ppg), but has allowed its opponent 13.0 more points per game in road contests.
STILL SEARCHING... -- The 22.2 percent shooting percentage by Stanford on Jan. 20 approached the USC opponent low of 19.2 by Oregon State in 1955 and is the lowest by a Trojan opponent in the last 30 seasons.
MIGHTY "MO" - Freshman point guard Maurice Jones, standing 5-7 and weighing 155 pounds, has been a tower of power for USC. He is third on the team with an average of 10.2 points per game and 19 three-pointers made, fourth with 2.9 rebounds per game and leads USC with 70 assists and 42 steals. Jones leads all Pac-10 players by averaging 36.7 minutes per game and is second in steals and fourth in assists. Jones has scored in double-figures nine times and has a Trojan game-high of 29 points on Nov. 15 vs. Santa Clara. He was USC's primary ball-handler the first 10 games and shares the duties now with Jio Fontan and has just two games all season with more turnovers than assists. In his last 11 games, Jones has 38 assists and 21 turnovers, while making 25 steals on defense.
NIK THE QUICK...AS IN QUICKLY GETTING NOTICED - Junior forward Nikola Vucevic was named Pac-10 Most Improved Player for the 2010 season and continues to take his game to the next level. Through the first 19 games, Vucevic leads USC with 16.6 points and 10.0 rebounds while attempting to become the first Trojan to average a double-double since Jaha Wilson averaged 14.2 points and 10.1 rebounds during the 1994-95 season. Vucevic leads the conference in total rebounds (190) and defensive rebounds (134), ranks second in minutes per game (34.7), second in blocked shots (27) and fourth in scoring (16.6 ppg). Vucevic has demonstrated an all-around game for USC, leading the team in points, blocks and rebounds, ranking second in free throw percentage (.753) and assists (32) and ranking fourth in three-pointers made (17). Vucevic scored a game-high 20 points vs. Stanford on Jan. 20, his seventh 20-point game of the season.
SIMMONS HAS BEEN DEFENSIVE STOPPER - 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 points. On Dec. 31 vs. WSU, was matched on the Pac-10's leading scorer Klay Thompson who finished with 17 points, but made only 6 of 18 shots. Simmons has started USC's first 19 games and averaged 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds. He matched a season and career high with eight rebounds vs. Stanford on Jan. 20.
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 9.5 points for USC, fifth-best on the team. He leads the team lead with 42 three-pointers made and leads the team with a 83.3 percent success rate from the free throw line. His pair of free throws with 10 seconds left clinched USC's 60-56 win vs. WSU on Dec. 31. He is fifth in the Pac-10 with 42 three-pointers made.
STEPHESON SHOWS TWO HANDS BETTER THAN 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. From that point until the game vs. UCLA on Jan. 9, he wore brace during games and for awhile a cast between games. In his first game having the use of both hands on Jan. 9, Stepheson had 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds and followed that up with 9 points and 8 rebounds at Oregon on Jan. 13. He really adapted after the first five games of the season and has averaged 11.5 points (161 total) and 10.0 rebounds (140 total) in the 14 games while hitting 58.5 percent of his shots (69-for-118). He has had a double-double in 7 of the last 14 games. Stepheson ranks second in rebounds per game (8.9), tied for fourth in blocks (25), sixth in minutes per game (33.1) and sixth in field goal percentage (.567) among conference players.
THE FONTAN FACTOR -- After sitting out nearly a season and a half following his transfer to USC from Fordham, guard Jio Fontan hasn't missed a beat, averaging 13.0 points, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steals in his first nine games. During the nine games, he ranks leads the team in assists (29), second in points (117), third in three-pointers made (10), fourth in minutes (289) and second in steals (9). USC has gone 5-4 in those games with all four losses by six points or less.
FONTAN DEC. 20-26 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.
DRIVEN BY DEFENSE -- USC has held 80 teams to 60 points or less in the last six seasons (184 games), including nine this season. The Trojans have held 12 teams this season (10-2) to 40 percent or less shooting from the field, 17 last season (13-4) and have held 98 teams (78-20) under 40 percent shooting in the last six seasons. USC held Stanford to 22.2 percent shooting on Jan. 20, the lowest percentage by a Trojan opponent since before 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 currently ranks second in the Pac-10 by holding the opposition to a 39.8 percent from the floor.
DOUBLE TROUBLE - Forwards Nikola Vucevic and Alex Stepheson have teamed up to give the Trojans a strong presence in the paint, both offensively and defensively. Vucevic leads the Pac-10 and enters this week tied for 6th in the country with 11 double-doubles, while Stepheson is tied for second in the conference with 7 double-doubles. The tandem also ranks No. 1 and No. 2 in the Pac-10 in rebounding with Vucevic grabbing 10.0 and Stepheson 8.9 rebounds per game.
CLEANING THE GLASS -- USC has won the battle of the boards in 12 of 19 games this season and has outrebounded the opposition 666-623. USC outrebounded Stanford 42-34 on Jan. 20, but surrendered a season-high 16 offensive rebounds. USC has been beaten on the boards in five of the last nine games, however, for a deficit of 298-314 rebounds (-1.8 per game).
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.
ESPNU FOLLOWS TROJANS - ESPNU followed the Trojans for two days (Jan. 9 and Jan. 11) and will produce a half-hour show offering a behind-the-scenes, all-access look at the USC men's basketball program which will air for the first time on Jan. 26 at 2:30 p.m. Viewers of the show will get an inside look at head coach Kevin O'Neill and his team as they prepared for their showdown with crosstown rival UCLA and for their first conference road trip. The show takes you inside the locker room and practice, as well as provides a tour of the Galen Center, the USC campus and unique look at O'Neill's home life.
USC HITS ROAD...ROAD HITS BACK - USC lost its Pac-10 road opener at Oregon on Jan. 13 and followed that up with a loss at Oregon state on Jan. 15, running its conference road losing streak to five games. The USC win at Tennessee on Dec. 21 snapped a six-game road losing streak dating back to last season. USC is 4-17 in its last 21 Pac-10 road games. The Trojans are in a stretch of playing five of seven games on the road, playing at Oregon (L, 68-62) and Oregon State (L, 80-76), at home vs. Stanford (W, 65-42) and California (Jan. 22), then at Arizona State (Jan. 27), Arizona (Jan. 29) and UCLA (Feb. 2). USC went 1-4 at those sites during the 2009-10 season, with the lone win being a 67-46 victory at UCLA.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS ON THE ROAD -- Five of the six games USC has played on the road this season have been decided by 6 points or less (L by 2 at Nebraska, L by 2 at Kansas, W by 1 at Tennessee, L by 6 at Oregon and L by 4 at Oregon State).
THE LONG-RANGE CHANGE -- After making just 107 three-pointers last season, last in the conference by a significant margin, the Trojans have already made 118 shots from beyond the arc and rank fifth in that category. Donte Smith leads the way with 42 (T-4th in the conference and one less that last year's Trojan leader Dwight Lewis-43), followed by Bryce Jones with 20 (no longer on the team), Maurice Jones with 19, Nikola Vucevic with 17 and Jio Fontan with 9 in nine games. As a team, USC had made 36.4 percent of its three-point shots, fourth in the conference. USC hit just 29.7 percent from long-range last season.
JACKSON MAKING HIS SHOTS COUNT - 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 18 collegiate games, Jackson has hit 68.3 percent of his shots from the field (28-for-41).
