University Southern California Trojans
USC To Face UCLA In Pac-12 Tournament Opener Wednesday
March 07, 2016 | Men's Basketball
The No. 7 seed USC Trojans (20-11, 9-9) will face the No. 10 seed UCLA Bruins (15-16, 6-12) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. on March 9 at 6:10 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Los Angeles with Ted Robinson and Bill Walton calling the action and Lewis Johnson providing sideline commentary. The winner of USC-UCLA will face the No. 2 seed Utah (24-7, 13-5) on March 10 at 6:15 p.m. USC has won 20 games in a season for the first time since the 2009 season (22-13).
USC AT THE PAC-12 TOURNAMENT – USC is 13-15 all-time at the conference tournament (reflects 1 USC win vacated due to NCAA penalty). At the 2015 Pac-12 Tournament, USC defeated No. 5 seed Arizona State 67-64 in the first-round game, becoming the first No. 12 seed to win a Pac-12 Tournament game. The Trojans then fell in the quarterfinals to No. 4 seed UCLA 96-70. USC has faced UCLA four times (1-3) in the Pac-12 Tourney, all four times since 2008. USC defeated UCLA 65-55 in the 2009 semifinals en route to its only Pac-12 tourney title.
BATTLING THE BRUINS - UCLA (15-16, 6-12) is coming off an 86-82 home loss to Oregon State on March 2 and has lost four straight games. UCLA has five players scoring in double figures, led by guards Isaac Hamilton (17.1 ppg) and Bryce Alford (16.3 ppg). USC defeated UCLA 89-75 at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 13 and 80-61 at the Galen Center on Feb. 4, its first sweep of the regular season series since 2010. The last time USC defeated UCLA three times in a season was 1954 (3-1) and the last time it posted three consecutive wins in a season was 1942 (4 in a row). UCLA leads in the all-time series 138-106, which reflects one USC win in 2008 vacated due to NCAA penalty.
USC FALLS A POWER SURGE SHORT AGAINST OREGON -- After USC tied the game at 52-all, it made just three of its final 12 shots and fell 76-66 to Oregon at the Galen Center on March 5. The loss kept USC from setting the school single-season home wins record, remaining tied with the 1961 Trojans with 16 victories (16-2). The win earned Oregon the outright regular season title. Oregon led 44-37 at halftime as it made 58.6 percent of its shots, while USC hit 48.0 percent, but had eight turnovers which led to 16 points. USC scored eight of the first 10 points after the break to make it tight, but with 11 minutes left in a tie game, USC went cold. The Trojans were 9-for-18 from the free throw line and 0-for-8 from 3-point range in the second half. There was a 22-minute delay at the 5:47 mark of the first half when a weather-related power surge caused a city grid to go down and knock the Galen Center lights out. Nikola Jovanovic and Katin Reinhardt led USC with 12 points each. USC made only 4 of 19 3-point shots (21.1 percent), just the eighth game this season without at least six makes from beyond the arc.
IT TAKES A TEAM -- USC has six players averaging 10.0 or more points and eight players have averaged 2.9 rebounds or more this season. Seven different Trojans have scored at least 19 points in a game this season. USC has four players with at least 52 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 nine 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.
DYNAMIC DUO -- Jordan McLaughlin (151) and Julian Jacobs (151) are one of two sets of guards in the country with at least 150 assists this season. The other pair is Emmett Naar (186) and Joe Rahon (175) of Saint Mary's.
TROJANS SET SCHOOL BLOCKS RECORD - USC has registered a school-record 171 blocks this season, 13th among all Division I schools in total blocks through games of March 6. USC's average of 5.5 blocks per game ranks 12th among all NCAA DI teams.
SC STANDS FOR SLAM CITY - USC has registered 107 dunks in the first 31 games, compared to its opponents' 60. Chimezie Metu leads USC with 47 dunks and Julian Jacobs, who led USC in dunks last season with 19, is second on the team with 31.
TROJANS MOST IMPROVED TEAM IN POWER 5 CONFERENCES -- According to research by J.D. Hamilton of the NCAA, USC's 8.5 game improvement from last season (12-20 to 20-11) is tied for 19th best in the country and tops among teams in the Power 5 conferences.
LOSING TO THE BEST -- The combined record of the opponents which USC lost to this season was 238-99 (70.6 winning percentage). The average record of the teams USC lost to this season was 21.6-9. All of USC's losses except one (ASU - 15-16) came to teams with winning records and seven were against teams which won 20 or more games.
THREE AT LAST, THREE AT LAST... - USC has made 242 three-point baskets this season, second among Pac-12 teams. It is the most three-pointers by USC since netting a school record 259 in the 1993 season. 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 23 of the 31 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 38.2 percent from beyond the arc (34th in the country), while its opponents are shooting 31.9 percent from long-range (49th best in the country). Last season USC made a total of 170 three-pointers for an average of 5.3 makes per game.
THE LAUNCHING SQUAD - Elijah, Stewart (55), Katin Reinhardt (54), Jordan McLaughlin (53) and Bennie Boatwright (52) is the first quartet in USC history with 50 or more three-point baskets in a season. USC has four players with 30 or more makes for the first time since the 2001-02 season (Brandon Granville-56, David Bluthenthal-62, Errick Craven-34 and Desmon Farmer-35). That was the only time the Trojans had four players with 34 or more made shots from beyond the arc since the three-point shot went into effect beginning with the 1986-87 season.
