No. 14/No. 18 USC To Play At SMU Saturday

The No. 14/No. 18 USC Trojans (4-1) will play at the SMU Mustangs (6-2) at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. PT. SMU has won 27 consecutive home games (3rd active in NCAA), 28 straight nonconference home games and is 30-0 at home under the direction of Tim Jankovich. USC has won its last seven road nonconference games.

BREAKING DOWN THE MUSTANGS -- SMU (6-2) is coming off a 95-64 home win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 28. SMU's other wins are over UMBC (78-67), Lousiana Monroe (83-65), Northwestern State (81-35), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (72-37) and Arizona (66-60). SMU has losses to Western Kentucky (63-61) and Northern Iowa (58-61). Three Mustangs are averaging double figures in points, led by junior guard Shake Milton at 18.3 points per game. USC leads the all-time series with SMU, 6-1. USC has won the last four meetings, including a 78-73 win at the Galen Center on Nov. 25, 2016 and a 66-65 win in the NCAA Tournament on March 17, 2017. SMU was 30-5 last season and USC's win in the NCAA Tournament snapped a 16-game winning streak for the Mustangs. SMU is 73-4 in its last five seasons at home.

USC SUFFERS FIRST LOSS OF SEASON -- Texas A&M used a decisive 19-3 run midway through the second half to defeat USC 75-59 at the Galen Center on Nov. 26. The matchup was the first of ranked teams at the Galen Center since 2007. The loss ended USC's 21-game nonconference home winning streak. USC was cold from the floor throughout, finishing with a 28.2 shooting percentage, its worst since shooting 26.5 percent vs. Utah on Feb. 1, 2015 and its fourth-worst shooting performance in the last 12 seasons. USC trailed 38-31 at the half, but opened the second half on an 11-4 run to tied the game at 42-all. The Aggies went on a 19-3 run in the next 2:59 to put the game out of reach and finished the game on a 33-17 run. USC was held to its fewest points since also scoring 59 at Arizona State on Feb. 22, 2015. Metu led USC with 13 points and 8 rebounds and Nick Rakocevic came off the bench to score 11 points and grab seven rebounds. D.J. Hogg led five TAMU players in double figures with 15 points.

OKLAHOMA AT STAPLES ON DECK -- USC will next face Oklahoma (4-1+) at the Staples Center on Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame's Hoophall LA. Oklahoma will play home games vs. North Texas on Nov. 30 and UTSA on Dec. 4 before facing the Trojans. Freshman sensation Trae Young has led the Sooners and is second in the country with an average of 28.2 points through the first five games. Oklahoma returns four starters from last season's 11-20 team and was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12. USC trails the all-time series with Oklahoma 4-6*, with one USC win vacated due to NCAA penalty (original record 5-6). Oklahoma won the last meeing 73-72 on Dec. 4, 2008.

TAKING THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED... -- USC is the only Pac-12 team to play a true road game so far this season and after Saturday, will have played 2 of the 4 road games played by Pac-12 teams. The last season for USC with 2 road games in its first 6 games was 2010.

USC LOOKS TO KEEP NONCONFERENCE ROAD WIN STREAK ALIVE -- USC's 93-89 overtime win at Vanderbilt on Nov. 19 extended its winning streak to seven games in nonconference road games. USC last lost on the road in nonconference play at LBSU on Dec. 19, 2013.

FAN-TASTIC SUPPORT – USC had 6,327 in attendance for the home game vs. CS Fullerton on Nov. 10 and 5,347 for the game vs. Texas A&M at Galen on Nov. 26. Those are the two highest-attended nonconference home games since drawing 5,563 for the game vs. Howard on Dec. 29, 2013. The last time USC had a home nonconference game with more fans than the 6,327 on Nov. 10 was vs. Kansas on Dec. 22, 2011 when it drew 6,431. The 2008 season was the last time USC had more than two nonconference games with higher than 5,347 fans, drawing 9,288 vs. Oklahoma on Nov. 29, 2007, 10,107 vs. Kansas on Dec. 2, 2007 and 7,140 vs. UC Riverside on Dec. 29, 2007.

STEWART SOARING UP THE CHARTS -- USC senior Elijah Stewart surpassed the 1,000 points scored mark during the win at Vanderbilt on Nov. 19 and now has 1,029 career points scored. Stewart has made nine three-pointers this season to give him 184 career 3-point makes, fourth on USC's all-time list and 19 behind Desmon Farmer, who is third on USC's all-time list with 203. Stewart has also played 107 consecutive games, the most of any player in the Pac-12.

COUNT ON A TREY FROM THESE THREE -- Bennie Boatwright, Jonah Mathews and Elijah Stewart have at least one three-point make in every game this season. Dating back to last season, Boatwright has the longest consecutive games streak with a three-pointer made at 10 and has at least one in 18 of his last 19 games.

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Players Mentioned

Bennie Boatwright

Jonah Mathews

Nick Rakocevic

Elijah Stewart