University Southern California Trojans
USC Begins Final Pac-10 Trip At Washington State
March 01, 2011 | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2011
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The USC Trojans (17-12, 9-7) will play Washington State (18-10, 8-8) Friel Court in Pullman, Wash. on March 3 at 7 p.m. USC has won a season-best four consecutive games and has won five of its last six games.
BREAKING DOWN THE COUGARS -- Washington State is coming off a 80-69 road win at Washington on Feb. 27. Junior Klay Thompson leads the Cougars and the conference in scoring with a 21.4 average. WSU leads the conference by holding opponents to a 39.1 shooting percentage. USC defeated WSU 60-56 at the Galen Center on Dec. 31 and leads in the all-time series, 67-43. However, 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 BEATS ASU ON SENIOR DAY -- USC's defense harassed Arizona State into a season-low 30.6 percent shooting and cruised to a 62-46 win at the Galen Center on Feb. 26. Nikola Vucevic led USC with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It was Senior Day and seniors Alex Stepheson (15 points/10 rebounds), Donte Smith (12 points/2 assists/2 steals) and Marcus Simmons (2 points/4 rebounds/career-high 5 assists) all chipped in.
WASHINGTON ON DECK -- USC's next game will be at Washington (19-9, 10-6) on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Seattle, Wash. Washington will play UCLA at home on March 3 before hosting the Trojans. USC lost 73-67 in overtime to the Huskies at the Galen Center on Dec. 29, the Trojans' first conference game. USC leads the all-time series with Washington 67-66 with two wins by USC in 2008 later vacated due to NCAA penalty. Washington is led in scoring by junior guard Isaiah Thomas (16.9) and senior forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning (16.5) who rank fourth and fifth in scoring among Pac-10 players.
TROJANS TOPS IN DEFENSE -- USC has held the opposition to 62.2 points per game, the fewest allowed per game among conference teams. USC also ranks second in the league in field goal defense at 40.6 percent. USC is 12-0 when it holds the opponent to less than 60 points.
VUCEVIC NAMED PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK -- USC junior Nikola Vucevic was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 21-27 as he led the Trojans to wins over then-No. 10 Arizona and ASU. Vucevic averaged 22.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in the two games.
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 (T-6th, 103), 3-point baskets (T-7th, 34) and free throws made (T-8th, 64).
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 33-26 in O'Neill's first 59 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 29 games, 20 of the opponents are at .500 or better for a combined record of 468-365 (.562 winning percentage) through games of Feb. 27. Jeff Sagarin lists the Trojans' schedule as the 52nd-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 5-4 vs. the top 50 teams in the current RPI rankings. USC is also one of only 13 teams in the current RPI top 100 to have at least 2 wins and be .500 or better (2-2) vs. current top 25 teams. USC is also one of 23 teams in the country with at least two games played against RPI top 50 teams and owning an above .500 record (5-4).
USC NEARLY UNBEATABLE... -- ...when holding the opposition to under 40 percent shooting from the field. USC is 13-1 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 15-2 when posting a better shooting percentage than the opposition and 13-4 when getting more or as many rebounds.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES - USC is 4-7 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.
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 wins at Cal on Feb. 17 and at Stanford on Feb. 19 pushed USC to 3-2 in its last five 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 11 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).
MIGHTY "MO" - Freshman point guard Maurice Jones, standing 5-7 and weighing 155 pounds, has been a tower of power for USC. He is tied for fourth on the team with an average of 9.9 points per game and second with 34 three-pointers made, fourth with 2.6 rebounds per game and leads USC with 103 assists and 63 steals. Jones leads all Pac-10 players by averaging 35.3 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 24th 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 29 games, Vucevic leads USC with 17.5 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 (298) and defensive rebounds (212), ranks second in minutes per game (34.7), is tied for fourth in blocked shots (38), 10th in shooting percentage (.507) and third in scoring (17.5 ppg). Vucevic has demonstrated an all-around game for USC, leading the team in points, blocks and rebounds, ranking second in free throw percentage (.743), fourth in assists (44) and ranking third in three-pointers made (27). Vucevic has had 12 20-point games and 18 double-doubles this season. He has averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds in the last nine games (186 points/98 rebounds).
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 third in the Pac-10 with 64 long-range makes. Smith now has 96 three-point baskets in his Trojan career, ranking 17th on USC's all-time list, nine behind Rodney Chatman. 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 9.9 points for USC, T-fourth-best on the team. He leads the team lead with 64 three-pointers made and leads the team with a 84.6 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 10.9 points (261 total) and 9.4 rebounds (226 total) in the 24 games, with 10 double-doubles. Stepheson has had at least 8 rebounds in 19 of the last 24 games. Stepheson ranks third in rebounds per game (8.8), sixth in blocks (34), 10th in minutes per game (32.8) and eighth in field goal percentage (.554) among conference players. Stepheson scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the Bay Area sweep of Cal and Stanford. He then had 27 points and 20 rebounds in last week's sweep of the Arizona schools.
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 10.1 points, 3.8 assists in his first 19 games. During the 19 games, he leads the team in assists (72), is fourth in points (192), fourth in three-pointers made (17), fourth in minutes (583) and second in steals (14). Fontan was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the Week of Dec. 20-26 when he averaged 17.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 steals in USC's wins vs. Tennessee and Lehigh.
DRIVEN BY DEFENSE -- USC has held 84 teams to 60 points or less in the last six seasons (192 games), including 13 this season. The Trojans have held 15 teams this season (13-2) to 40 percent or less shooting from the field, 17 last season (13-4) and have held 101 teams (81-20) 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 40.6 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 18 double-doubles, while Stepheson is tied for third in the conference with 10 double-doubles. The tandem also ranks No. 1 and No. 3 in the Pac-10 in rebounding with Vucevic grabbing 10.3 and Stepheson 8.8 rebounds per game. Through games of Feb. 27, Vucevic (16th) and Stepheson (53rd) were the only pair of teammates in the country in the top 53 in rebounding.
