University Southern California Trojans
February 18, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2011
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The USC Trojans (14-12, 6-7) will play at the Stanford Cardinal (13-12, 6-8) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. on Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. The game will aire on FS West with Paul Sunderland and Brandon Granville calling the action and Nischelle Turner providing sideline commentary.
BREAKING DOWN THE CARDINAL -- USC defeated the Cardinal 65-42 on Jan. 20 at the Galen Center. USC leads the all-time series 120-118 (with 1 win in 2008 later vacated due to NCAA penalty). Stanford is led in scoring by junior Jeremy Green who averages 16.1 points per game, 5th in the conference. Green has averaged 24.5 points in the last four games, while making 60 percent of his shots. USC has lost its last eight games at Maples Pavilion.
TROJANS WIN AT CAL -- USC's defense provided an 11-point halftime lead and the offense took over in the second half to give the Trojans a 78-75 win at California on Feb. 17. After Cal was held to 24.0 percent shooting in the first half, they made 7 of their first 9 shots after the break to cut the lead to one at 40-39. With the lead still one for USC at 42-41, Maurice Jones went on a 13-point scoring spree to open the lead back up to eight for the Trojans. Jones finished with 22 points, making 5 of 6 three-pointers. Nikola Vucevic added 21 points and 10 rebounds.
PAC-10 LEADER ARIZONA ON DECK -- USC's next game will be vs. conference leader Arizona (22-4, 11-2) on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Galen Center. The Wildcats have won seven consecutive games and are led by sophomore Derrick Williams who is averaging 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds. Arizona defeated USC 82-73 in Tucson, Ariz. on Jan. 29. USC is 4-1 in its last 5 home games with Arizona, with the Wildcats' win in 2008 being vacated due to NCAA penalty.
TROJANS DRIVEN BY DEFENSE -- USC has held the opposition to 63.4 points per game, tied with Stanford for the fewest allowed in the Pac-10. USC also ranks second in the league in field goal defense at 41.5 percent. USC is 9-0 when it holds the opponent to less than 60 points.
FEELING THE "MOJO" -- USC freshman Maurice Jones has 58 steals this season, tying Gary Payton (OSU, 1987) for 10th on the Pac-10 all-time freshman single-season steals list. Eddie House (ASU, 1997) is 9th with 59 and Earl Watson (UCLA, 1998) is 8th with 64. Jones also ranks second all-time by a USC freshman behind Errick Craven's 68. Jones also rank on several other USC freshman top 10 lists: assists (7th, 98), 3-point baskets (8th, 32) and free throws made (T-10th, 60).
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 lost 4 of our Top 6 scorers from last year's 16-win team and has had to overcome the cumulative loss of 12 players in a one year span. USC was one scholarship down both last season and this, yet has gone a composite 30-26 in O'Neill's first 56 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 second on the team with an average of 10.2 points per game and second with 32 three-pointers made, fourth with 2.6 rebounds per game and leads USC with 98 assists and 58 steals. Jones leads all Pac-10 players by averaging 36.1 minutes per game and is second in steals and fifth in assists. Jones has scored in double-figures 12 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 18 games, Jones has 66 assists and 32 turnovers, while making 41 steals. Jones posted a season high of 6 steals at ASU on Jan 27. Jones' 58 steals are the most by a Trojan since Errick Craven had 62 steals during the 2004 season. Jones ranks 22nd in the country and third among freshmen with an average of 2.2 steals per game.
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 26 games, Vucevic leads USC with 17.0 points and 10.1 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 (262) and defensive rebounds (183), ranks second in minutes per game (34.7), fourth in blocked shots (34) and third in scoring (17.0 ppg). Vucevic has demonstrated an all-around game for USC, leading the team in points, blocks and rebounds, ranking second in free throw percentage (.732), tied for third in assists (43) and ranking third in three-pointers made (21). Vucevic has had 10 20-point games and 15 double-doubles this season.
DEFENSE KEYS WINS -- USC has held 81 teams to 60 points or less in the last six seasons (189 games), including 10 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 second in the Pac-10 by holding the opposition to a 41.5 percent from the floor.
TROJANS BOAST TOP TANDEM - 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 8th in the country with 15 double-doubles, while Stepheson is tied for third in the conference with 8 double-doubles. The tandem also ranks No. 1 and No. 2 in the Pac-10 in rebounding with Vucevic grabbing 10.1 and Stepheson 8.9 rebounds per game. Through games of Feb. 17, Vucevic (T-16th) and Stepheson (47th) were the only pair of teammates in the country in the top 50 in rebounding.
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). California made 43.1 percent of its shots in USC's win on Feb. 17, just the fourth time this season the Trojans have won when allowing 40 percent or more shooting by the opposition (4-11).
IT'S SIMPLE REALLY... - USC is 12-2 when posting a better shooting percentage than the opposition and 11-4 when getting more or as many rebounds.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES - USC is 2-7 in games played on Saturday and 1-3 in Wednesday games. The Trojans are a combined 11-2 in games played on other days of the week.
USC MAY BE TURNING THE CORNER ON THE ROAD - USC's win at ASU on Jan. 27 snapped a five-game losing streak in Pac-10 road games. The win at Cal on Feb. 17 pushed USC to 2-2 in its last four Pac-10 road contests. 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 -- Seven of the 10 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, W by 2 at ASU and W by 3 at Cal).
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 161 shots from beyond the arc and rank T-sixth in that category. Donte Smith leads the way with 58 (4th in the conference and 15 more than last year's Trojan leader Dwight Lewis - 43), followed by Maurice Jones with 32 and Nikola Vucevic with 21. As a team, USC had made 35.9 percent of its three-point shots, third in the conference. USC hit just 29.7 percent from long-range last season.
