University Southern California Trojans
USC Travels To UCLA To Face Rival Bruins
January 31, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2011
The USC Trojans (12-10, 4-5) will play at the UCLA Bruins (14-7, 6-3) in Westwood, Calif. on Feb. 2 at 8:00 p.m. to begin the second half of Pac-10 play. USC has won four consecutive games vs. UCLA and is trying to stretch its winning streak to five, the most since winning a school-record 42 consecutive games against the Bruins during the 1932-43 seasons. The game will be broadcast on Prime Ticket with Steve Physioc and Marques Johnson calling the action and Rebecca Haarlow providing insightful sideline commentary.
BREAKING DOWN THE BRUINS -- USC defeated the Bruins 63-52 at the Galen Center on Jan. 9 with Nikola Vucevic scoring a game-high 20 points and Alex Stepheson chipping in with 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. USC has won four consecutive games vs. UCLA and is 11-10 vs. the Bruins in the last 10 seasons, but trails 104-128 in the all-time series (1 win in 2008 later vacted due to NCAA penalty). The Bruins are led in scoring and rebounding this season by Reeves Nelson (14.5 ppg/8.3 rpg) and have five players averaging 10.0 or more points per game. UCLA has won five of six games since falling to USC at the Galen Center.
HOT-SHOOTING WILDCATS DEFEAT TROJANS -- Arizona made 61.2 percent of its shots and defeated USC 82-73 at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 29. It was the highest shooting percentage by a Trojan opponent since ASU also shot 61.2 percent vs. USC in 2004. The Wildcats' Derrick Williams, Jesse Perry, Kevin Parrom and Mo Mo Jones combined to go 18 of 20 from the field, including making all eight of their three-point attempts to score a total of 55 points. Williams led Arizona with 20 points and Nikola Vucevic led USC with 18. USC trailed 40-31 at the half and never got closer than nine points in the second half. Donte Smith added 14 points and Alex Stepheson had seven points and 11 rebounds.
OREGON STATE ON DECK -- USC's next game will be vs. Oregon State (8-12, 3-6) at the Galen Center on Feb. 10 at 8:00 p.m. Oregon State will host Washington on Feb. 3 and Washington State on Feb. 5 before traveling to Los Angeles. The Beavers defeated USC in Corvallis on Jan. 15, 80-76. USC leads the all-time series with OSU 66-58 (with 2 wins in 2008 vacated due to NCAA penalty).
USC NEARLY UNBEATABLE... -- ...when holding the opposition to under 40 percent shooting from the field. USC is 10-1 this season when the opposition shoots under 40 percent (only loss at Kansas - .389). In fact, in the games USC holds the opponents under 40 percent shooting, the composite shooting percentage is 34.4 percent. ASU made 45.5 percent of its shots in USC's win on Jan. 27, just the second time this season the Trojans have won when allowing 40 percent or more shooting by the opposition (2-9).
USC WEATHERING THE STORM -- Despite three players leaving early to play professionally and virtually the entire recruiting class leaving before he could coach a game, USC head coach Kevin O'Neill has kept the Trojans highly competitive in 2010 and 2011. USC was in the thick of the 2010 Pac-10 title race until the final weeks of the season, despite taking a postseason ban. USC was one scholarship down both last season and this, yet has gone a composite 28-24 in O'Neill's first 52 games while playing one of the tougher schedules in the country, including posting a 4-3 record vs. ranked teams. Coach O'Neill was able to bridge the gap which created a one-man sophomore scholarship class of Evan Smith (out all season due to injury), by bringing in transfers Jio Fontan this season and Aaron Fuller and Dewayne Dedmon next season. In addition, USC has a top 10-ranked 2011 recruiting class according to Hoopscooponline.com.
MIGHTY "MO" - Freshman point guard Maurice Jones, standing 5-7 and weighing 155 pounds, has been a tower of power for USC. He is fourth on the team with an average of 10.1 points per game and second with 24 three-pointers made, fourth with 2.8 rebounds per game and leads USC with 80 assists and 52 steals. Jones leads all Pac-10 players by averaging 36.6 minutes per game and is second in steals and fourth in assists. Jones has scored in double-figures 11 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 14 games, Jones has 48 assists and 26 turnovers, while making 35 steals. Jones posted season highs of 6 assists and 6 steals at ASU on Jan 27. Jones' 52 assists are the most by a Trojan since Gabe Pruitt had 55 assists during the 2006 season.
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 22 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 (219) and defensive rebounds (153), ranks second in minutes per game (34.2), tied for third in blocked shots (29) 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 (.745), third in assists (37) and ranking fourth in three-pointers made (18). Vucevic has had eight 20-point games and 12 double-doubles this 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 22 games and averaged 4.9 points and 3.2 rebounds. He matched a season and career high with eight rebounds vs. Stanford on Jan. 20.
DONTE'S INFERNO -- Senior guard Donte Smith torched the nets by making 8 of 12 three-point attempts and finishing with a career-high 24 points, 12 straight in the second half (4 consecutive 3-pointers), on Jan. 22 vs. California. The 8 three-pointers made were the second-most in school history. Anthony Pendleton holds the school record with 9 three-point baskets on Dec. 9, 1987. Smith has made at least one shot from beyond the arc in all but one game this season and ranks tied for third in the Pac-10 with 53 long-range makes. His 40.2 shooting percentage from three-point range ranks 11th in the conference. Smith now has 85 three-point baskets in his Trojan career, ranking 20th on USC's all-time list. Against NAU on Dec. 11, 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 then career-high 22 points in the game and made a then 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 10.4 points for USC, third-best on the team. He leads the team lead with 53 three-pointers made and leads the team with a 81.5 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.
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 10.8 points (183 total) and 9.8 rebounds (166 total) in the 17 games while hitting 56.9 percent of his shots (78-for-137). He has had a double-double in 7 of the last 17 games. Stepheson ranks second in rebounds per game (8.9), fifth in blocks (26), sixth in minutes per game (32.8) and seventh in field goal percentage (.556) 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 11.4 points, 3.4 assists and 0.9 steals in his first 12 games. During the 12 games, he leads the team in assists (41), is third in points (137), third in three-pointers made (13), fourth in minutes (365) and second in steals (11). USC has gone 6-6 in those games with five ot the six losses by six points or less and the biggest loss being by nine points at Arizona.
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 (186 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 in at least the last 30 seasons. USC held it opponents in the 2009-10 season to a 38.4 shooting percentage, best in the Pac-10. USC currently ranks fourth in the Pac-10 by holding the opposition to a 41.1 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 is tied for 13th in the country with 12 double-doubles, while Stepheson is tied for third 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 14 of 22 games this season and has outrebounded the opposition 764-709. USC outrebounded ASU 36-24 on Jan. 27.
USC MAY BE TURNING THE CORNER ON THE ROAD - USC's win at ASU on Jan. 27 snapped a five-game losgin streak in Pac-10 road games. The USC win at Tennessee on Dec. 21 snapped a six-game road losing streak dating back to last season.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS ON THE ROAD -- Six of the eight 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, L by 4 at Oregon State and W by 2 at ASU).
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 141 shots from beyond the arc and rank fifth in that category. Donte Smith leads the way with 53 (T-3rd in the conference and 10 more than last year's Trojan leader Dwight Lewis - 43), followed by Maurice Jones with 24, Bryce Jones with 20 (no longer on the team), Nikola Vucevic with 18 and Jio Fontan with 13 in 12 games. As a team, USC had made 36.7 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 21 collegiate games, Jackson has hit 64.3 percent of his shots from the field (36-for-56). He also has hit 6 of 10 three-point attempts (60.0 percent).
