University Southern California Trojans
USC Hosts Arizona State Saturday On Senior Day
February 25, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2011
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The USC Trojans (16-12, 8-7) will host the Arizona State Sun Devils (10-17, 2-13) at the Galen Center on Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. USC has won a season-best three consecutive games and has won four of its last five games. The game will be shown live on Prime Ticket with Paul Sunderland and Brandon Granville calling the action and Nischelle Turner providing sideline commentary. Lindsay Soto and Bob Boyd will handle the postgame show. Today is Senior Day with James Dunleavy, Marcus Simmons, Donte Smith and Alex Stepheson being honored in the pregame. USC lost last season on Senior Day to Oregon State, 49-44, snapping a 13-season winning streak in home finales.
BREAKING DOWN THE SUN DEVILS -- Arizona State is coming off a 71-53 setback at UCLA on Feb. 24. The Trojans defeated the Sun Devils 63-61 in Tempe, Ariz. on Jan. 27 behind Nikola Vucevic's 26 points and 12 rebounds. USC has won 11 of its last 16 games with the Sun Devils and leads the all-time series 50-33 (2 wins in 2008 later vacated due to NCAA penalty). Sophomore Trent Lockett at 13.6 points per game and senior Ty Abbott at 12.6 points per game lead ASU in scoring.
USC KNOCKS OFF No. 10 ARIZONA -- USC outscored No. 10 Arizona 40-29 in the second half to snap the Wildcats' eight-game winning streak and go on to a 65-57 win at the Galen Center on Feb. 24. Nikola Vucevic led the way with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Jio Fontan matched his Trojan high with 21 points. Alex Stepheson added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Arizona's star forward Derrick Williams was held to a season-low eight points on 3-for-11 shooting. USC held Arizona, the Pac-10's top shooting team, to 35.8 percent.
WASHINGTON STATE ON DECK -- USC's next game will be at Washington State (17-10, 7-8) on March 3 at 7 p.m. in Pullman, Wash. USC defeated WSU 60-56 at the Galen Center on Dec. 31. USC is 1-6 in the last seven games at Pullman and is 5-11 in the last 16 games overall vs. the Cougars. USC leads the all-time series, however, 67-43. WSU is led by the conference's top scorer, junior Klay Thompson who averages 21.2 points per game.
TROJANS TOPS IN DEFENSE -- USC has held the opposition to 62.8 points per game, the fewest allowed per game among conference teams. USC also ranks second in the league in field goal defense at 41.0 percent. USC is 11-0 when it holds the opponent to less than 60 points.
FEELING THE "MOJO" -- USC freshman Maurice Jones has 63 steals this season, ninth on the Pac-10 all-time freshman single-season steals list. Earl Watson (UCLA, 1998) is 8th with 64. Jones also ranks second all-time by a USC freshman behind Errick Craven's 68 (7th all-time in the Pac-10). Jones also ranks on several other USC freshman top 10 lists: assists (7th, 100), 3-point baskets (8th, 33) and free throws made (10th, 61).
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 32-26 in O'Neill's first 58 games while playing one of the tougher schedules in the country, including posting a 5-3 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.
BRING IT ON -- 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 28 games, 19 of the opponents are at .500 or better for a combined record of 445-331 (.573 winning percentage) through games of Feb. 24. Jeff Sagarin lists the Trojans' schedule as the 42nd-hardest in the country so far.
AT THEIR BEST AGAINST THE BEST -- With the win over No. 10 Arizona on Feb. 24, USC improved to 3-1 vs. ranked opponents during the 2010-11 season. USC is also 3-2 vs. the top 28 teams in the current RPI rankings.
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 9.9 points per game and second with 33 three-pointers made, fourth with 2.6 rebounds per game and leads USC with 100 assists and 63 steals. Jones leads all Pac-10 players by averaging 35.4 minutes per game and is second in steals and is eighth in assists. Jones has scored in double-figures 13 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 three games all season with more turnovers than assists. In his last 20 games, Jones has 68 assists and 34 turnovers, while making 46 steals. Jones posted a season high of 6 steals at ASU on Jan 27. Jones' 63 steals are the most by a Trojan since Errick Craven had 73 steals during the 2003 season. Jones ranks 22nd in the country and third among freshmen with an average of 2.3 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 28 games, Vucevic leads USC with 17.4 points and 10.3 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 (288) and defensive rebounds (205), ranks second in minutes per game (34.6), is tied for fourth in blocked shots (37) and third in scoring (17.4 ppg). Vucevic has demonstrated an all-around game for USC, leading the team in points, blocks and rebounds, ranking second in free throw percentage (.754), tied for third in assists (44) and ranking third in three-pointers made (24). Vucevic has had 11 20-point games and 17 double-doubles this season. He has averaged 20.8 points and 11.0 rebounds in the last eight games (166 points/88 rebounds).
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 28 games and averaged 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds. He matched a season and career high with eight rebounds vs. Stanford on Jan. 20. Simmons had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists at Cal on Feb. 17.
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 three games this season and ranks fourth in the Pac-10 with 61 long-range makes. Smith now has 93 three-point baskets in his Trojan career, ranking 18th on USC's all-time list, two behind Nick Young. 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 9.8 points for USC, fourth-best on the team. He leads the team lead with 61 three-pointers made and leads the team with a 85.7 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 10.7 points (246 total) and 9.4 rebounds (216 total) in the 23 games, with nine double-doubles. Stepheson has had at least 8 rebounds in 18 of the last 23 games. Stepheson ranks second in rebounds per game (8.8), sixth in blocks (32), 10th in minutes per game (32.7) and eighth in field goal percentage (.549) among conference players. Stepheson scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the Bay Area sweep of Cal and Stanford. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win vs. Arizona.
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 10.4 points, 3.8 assists in his first 18 games. During the 18 games, he leads the team in assists (68), is third in points (187), third in three-pointers made (17), fourth in minutes (554) and second in steals (13).
DRIVEN BY DEFENSE -- USC has held 83 teams to 60 points or less in the last six seasons (191 games), including 12 this season. The Trojans have held 14 teams this season (12-2) to 40 percent or less shooting from the field, 17 last season (13-4) and have held 100 teams (80-20) 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 41.0 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 5th in the country with 17 double-doubles, while Stepheson is tied for third in the conference with 9 double-doubles. The tandem also ranks No. 1 and No. 2 in the Pac-10 in rebounding with Vucevic grabbing 10.3 and Stepheson 8.8 rebounds per game. Through games of Feb. 24, Vucevic (17th) and Stepheson (53rd) were the only pair of teammates in the country in the top 53 in rebounding.
USC NEARLY UNBEATABLE... -- ...when holding the opposition to under 40 percent shooting from the field. USC is 12-1 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 14-2 when posting a better shooting percentage than the opposition and 12-4 when getting more or as many rebounds.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES - USC is 3-7 in games played on Saturday and 1-3 in Wednesday games. The Trojans are a combined 12-2 in games played on other days of the week.
