Men's Basketball | January 02, 2018

The USC Trojans (10-5, 1-1) are playing the California Golden Bears (7-7, 1-0) at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. on Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m.    

BREAKING DOWN THE GOLDEN BEARS  -- The Bears won 77-74 at Stanford on Dec. 30 to open conference play and have won three of their last four games.  California is led by junior guard Don Coleman who is averaging 20.1 points per game.  USC lost 74-73 vs. California last season and has dropped three straight games to Cal.  USC has also lost its last five games at California, last winning at Haas Pavilion in 2011. Cal leads the all-time series 136-122, which includes one win vacated by USC due to NCAA penalty.

USC ROLLS TO WIN OVER WSU -- Elijah Stewart began the game with a three-pointer 19 seconds into the game and USC led wire-to-wire in an 89-71 victory vs. Washington State at the Galen Center on Dec. 31.  Stewart led six Trojans in double figures in scoring with 17 points.  It was USC's first game with six players scoring 10 or more points in a game since also accomplishing the feat vs. UCLA on March 9, 2016.  Bennie Boatwright scored 13 and had a team-best seven rebound, while Jordan McLaughlin had a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists.  USC made 69 percent of its shots in the second half to finish at 54.5 percent for the game.  The Trojans held WSU to 39.7 percent shooting.  USC outrebounded the Cougars 40-30 and had a scoring advantage on points in the paint of 58-16.  USC had 10 steals in a game for the first time this season and outscored WSU 22-7 on points off turnovers. Chimezie Metu was ejected at 5:43 of the 1st half with a flagrant 2 foul and USC ahead 33-20.  WSU scored the next 10 points to cut the lead to 33-30, but USC responded with an 8-1 run to closeout the half and never looked back.

STANFORD ON DECK - USC's next game will at Stanford (6-8, 0-1) on Jan. 7 in Palo Alto, Calif. at 7:00 p.m.  Stanford will host UCLA on Jan. 4 before facing the Trojans.  Reid Travis leads Stanford with a 20.9 scoring average.  USC trails in the all-time series with Stanford 123-125, which reflects one win vacated in 2008 due to NCAA penalty.  USC did not play at Stanford last season and is 2-12 in its last 14 games at Maples Pavilion.  USC last lost three straight at Stanford, last winning 65-64 in 2013.

LET'S PLAY! -- USC just finished a stretch of playing eight games in 18 days (6-2), after beginning the season with seven games in 34 days (4-3).  USC is 2-4 this season when playing games four days or more apart and 7-1 when playing games three days or less apart (not counting the opener).

MR. BUCKETS FILLING IT UP -- Bennie "Buckets" Boatwright has scored 23.3 points per game (93 total) over the last four contests. He has also made 13 three-pointers in that stretch.

OFFENSE STARTING TO CLICK -- USC has scored 80 or more points in eight of its last nine games for an average of 86.2 points per game (776 total).  USC is making 51.4 percent (278-for-541) of its shots in that stretch.

SLASH STEWART -- Elijah Stewart was 7 of 8 from the free throw line last game and is 19 of 22 from the charity stripe in the last five games.  In USC's first 10 games, Stewart took a total of 13 free throws.  For the season, he is 32 of 35 from the free throw stripe (91.4 percent).

SECOND TIME AROUND -- In the last nine games, USC is making 57.0 percent of its shots in the second half (154-for-270).  For the year, USC is shooting 51.3 percent (230-for-448) after the break (not including overtime).

LEARNING TO WIN EARLY -- USC has recorded at least eight wins in the nonconference schedule all five seasons under Enfield, with a best of 13-0 last season.  USC had five victories in the nonconference slate in each of the two previous seasons.