University Southern California Trojans
USC To Host Washington At Galen Saturday At Noon
January 29, 2016 | Men's Basketball
The USC Trojans (16-5, 5-3) will host the Washington Huskies (14-6, 6-2) at the Galen Center on Jan. 30 at noon. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Washington with Jim Watson and Mike Montgomery calling the action. USC's 16-5 start is its best since beginning the 2001-02 season with the same record. The most recent best 22-game starts by the Trojans were 16-6 in 2007 and 18-4 in 1992.
BREAKING DOWN THE HUSKIES - Washington is currently tied for first in the conference and is coming off an 86-84 win at UCLA on Jan. 28. Redshirt senior Andrew Andrews leads the Huskies and all Pac-12 players with a 21.3 scoring average. Five of Washington's next six leading scorers are freshmen. Washington defeated USC 87-85 in Seattle, Wash. on Jan. 3, and three other of its first eight conference games have gone into overtime. USC trails in the all-time series 68-71, which reflects two wins vacated by the Trojans from the 2008 season.
TROJANS COMPLETE SWEEP OF WSU -- USC defeated Washington State 81-71 on Jan. 28 at the Galen Center to complete a Pac-12 season-series sweep for the first time since it defeated Stanford twice in 2013. Katin Reinhardt scored 18 points to lead five Trojans in double figures. After WSU made 16 of its first 24 shots (66.7 percent), the Trojans turned up the defense and held the Cougars to 29.0 percent (9-for-31) shooting the rest of the way.
UCLA ON DECK -- USC's next game will be against UCLA (12-9, 3-5) at the Galen Center on Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. UCLA will host Washington State on Jan. 30 before facing the Trojans. USC defeated UCLA 89-75 at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 13. USC trails in the all-time series 105-138 which reflects one win vacated by the Trojans in 2008. Junior guard Bryce Alford leads UCLA in scoring with a 17.2 average and five Bruins average double figures in scoring.
SC STANDS FOR SLAM CITY - USC has registered 82 dunks in the first 21 games, compared to its opponents' 37. USC was out-dunked in a game for the first time at Oregon State on Jan. 24 (3 to 5). Chimezie Metu, who leads USC with 36 dunks, had four vs. Washington State and has at least one in 12 of the last 13 games. Julian Jacobs, who led USC in dunks last season with 19, is second on the team with 22.
USC TO RETIRE WILLIAMS' NO. 10 JERSEY ON FEB. 4 -- USC will retire the No. 10 jersey of Gus Williams on Feb. 4 during halftime of the USC-UCLA game. Williams was a three-year letterman (1973-75), earned All-America first team, All-Pac-8 first team and USC MVP honors in 1975 when he led the conference in scoring (21.2 ppg). He finished his career with 1,308 points, 15th on USC's all-time list. In 1974 he averaged a team-best 15.5 points and led USC to a 24-5 record. He then played in the NBA for 11 seasons, averaging 17.1 points with Golden State, Seattle (where he won an NBA title in 1979), Washington and Atlanta. He twice was named an NBA All-Star. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor in 2009.
TURNAROUND TOWN -- According to research by J.D. Hamilton of the NCAA, USC's 9.5 game improvement from last season (12-20 to 16-5) is tied for the sixth-best in the country and tops among teams in the Power 5 conferences. Through games of Jan. 28, her are the teams with the biggest improvements:
Team 2015-16 2014-15 Improvement Tennessee St. 14-6 5-26 14.5 Southern Illinois 18-4 12-21 11.5 Ball State 13-7 7-23 11.0 Col. of Charleston 13-7 9-24 10.5 Ark-Little Rock 18-2 13-18 10.5 USC 16-5 12-20 9.5 Fairfield 11-9 7-24 9.5 Saint Joseph's 17-3 13-18 9.5IT TAKES A TEAM -- USC has six players averaging 10.8 or more points and eight players have averaged 3.2 rebounds or more in the first 20 games. Seven different Trojans have scored at least 19 points in a game this season. USC has four players with at least 37 three-point baskets this season. Last season, USC had only three players all season make 16 or more three-pointers. USC had five players score in double figures vs. Monmouth on Nov. 16, the first time it had accomplished the feat since 2013 and has had five or more reach double figures in seven games this season. USC had six players score 10 or more points vs. Cal Poly on Dec. 17, the first time accomplishing that feat since Dec. 28, 2004 vs. Southern.
THREE AT LAST, THREE AT LAST... - USC has made 176 three-point baskets this season, tops among Pac-12 teams through games of Jan. 28. USC has finished 11th or 12th among Pac-12 teams in three-pointers made the last four seasons. USC has made six or more three-pointers in 18 of the 21 games and six times has netted 12 or more, with a season-best 13 makes vs. CSUN on Nov. 23 and vs. Lafayette on Dec. 23. On the year, USC is averaging 38.9 percent from beyond the arc (27th in the country), while its opponents are shooting 30.9 percent from long-range. Last season USC made a total of 170 three-pointers for an average of 5.3 makes per game.
REINHARDT SCORES 1,OOOTH CAREER POINT - USC guard Katin Reinhardt scored 18 points vs. WSU on Jan. 28 to give him 1,007 career points (355 coming as a freshman at UNLV in 2013 and 652 in two seasons at USC). He also has made 100 three-pointers in his two years at USC which 18th on the Trojans' all-time three-point baskets list.
