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Photo by: Hali Helfgott
USC Returns Home To Face Southern Utah Friday
December 20, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Features
First of four consecutive home games
The USC Trojans (5-6) return home to host the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (5-3) at the Galen Center on Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. USC has lost four consecutive games for the first time since the 2017 season, when it finished with a school-record 26 wins and reached the NCAA Tournament. USC has won its last 11 games played on December 21 and 17 of 18 since 1971, which includes wins over Alabama, Ohio State, Kansas, North Carolina and Tennessee.
BREAKING DOWN SOUTHERN UTAH - The Thunderbirds are coming off a 78-69 overtime home win against Pepperdine on Dec. 15. SUU is led in scoring by redshirt junior Cameron Oluyitan who averages 13.6 points per game to lead four Thunderbirds averaging in double figures. This is the first meeting between the two schools. USC guard McKay Anderson began his collegiate career at Southern Utah in 2013-14.
USC RALLYS, BUT FALLS IN 2 OT AT SANTA CLARA - USC trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half and by 16 points in the second half before rallying to forge overtime in a 102-92 double-overtime loss at Santa Clara on Dec. 18. USC led for a total of 2:08 minutes, the first time coming when Jonah Mathews hit a driving layup with 23.8 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 80-79. Santa Clara's Josip Vrankic made one of two free throws with 2.0 seconds remaining to send it to OT. Shaqquan Aaron gave USC an 89-87 lead with 11 seconds remaining in OT, but Trey Wertz, who scored 17 of Santa Clara's 22 OT points, answered with a driving layup to force double OT at 89-all. In the second OT, Wertz threw in a long 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Broncos a 94-90 lead with 2:23 remaining and USC got no closer after that, making just one bucket in the frame. Jordan Usher finished with a team-high 22 points, making 18 points in the second half (8-for-8 from the FT line) to lead the comeback. Mathews added 20 and Aaron 17. Wertz finished with a game-high 28 points for the Broncos. USC made 39.0 percent of its shots, while Santa Clara made 53.1 percent. USC was just 5-for-28 (17.9 percent) from 3-point range.
UC DAVIS ON DECK - USC's next game will be vs. UC Davis (3-7) at the Galen Center on Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. UC Davis defeated William Jessup 83-65 in its last game on Dec. 16 and will play at Arizona on Dec. 22 and at LMU on Dec. 28 before facing USC. Senior guard T.J. Shorts II leads UC Davis in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game. UC Davis went 22-11 last season and returned three starters from that team. This is the first meeting between the two schools.
RAKOCEVIC HAS BEEN A FORCE - Junior forward Nick Rakocevic scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds vs. Oklahoma on Dec. 15 for his sixth double-double of the season. He is tied for ninth in the country in double-doubles and his 10.9 rebounds per game this season ranks ninth nationally and tops in the Pac-12. Rakocevic is also averaging a double-double by averaging a team-best 14.5 points per game. He began the season with three consecutive double-doubles before getting 9 points and 9 rebounds vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 19, snapping a streak of five consecutive double-doubles dating back to last season. He became the first USC player to record three double-doubles to start a season since Sam Clancy did it to start the 2001-02 season. His five consecutive double-doubles were the most by a USC player since Nikola Vucevic had eight-straight during the 2011 season.
LOSING THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT - With the 2-OT loss at Santa Clara on Dec. 18, USC fell to 0-4 in December this season. In Enfield's previous five seasons as USC's head coach, USC had a 27-7 record in games played in December.
DID THEY MOVE THE LINE BACK? - In USC's first seven games it made 41.8 percent ( 61-for-146) of its three-point attempts, making seven or more in six of the games. During the four-game losing streak, USC has made 27.6 percent (24-for-87) of its three-point attempts.
ENFIELD EYES THE CENTURY MARK - USC head coach Andy Enfield has a 99-82 record in his six seasons at the helm of the USC program. He has led the Trojans into the postseason each of the last three seasons, combining to win 71 games, the most in a three-year stretch in school history. He has a 140-110 overall record in eight seasons as a head coach.
CHALLENGING COMPETITION - The six teams USC has lost to this season (Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Nevada, TCU, Oklahoma & Santa Clara) have a combined 52-10 record. USC has also played two (Nevada & Texas Tech) of the nine remaining undefeated teams this season.
BREAKING DOWN SOUTHERN UTAH - The Thunderbirds are coming off a 78-69 overtime home win against Pepperdine on Dec. 15. SUU is led in scoring by redshirt junior Cameron Oluyitan who averages 13.6 points per game to lead four Thunderbirds averaging in double figures. This is the first meeting between the two schools. USC guard McKay Anderson began his collegiate career at Southern Utah in 2013-14.
USC RALLYS, BUT FALLS IN 2 OT AT SANTA CLARA - USC trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half and by 16 points in the second half before rallying to forge overtime in a 102-92 double-overtime loss at Santa Clara on Dec. 18. USC led for a total of 2:08 minutes, the first time coming when Jonah Mathews hit a driving layup with 23.8 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 80-79. Santa Clara's Josip Vrankic made one of two free throws with 2.0 seconds remaining to send it to OT. Shaqquan Aaron gave USC an 89-87 lead with 11 seconds remaining in OT, but Trey Wertz, who scored 17 of Santa Clara's 22 OT points, answered with a driving layup to force double OT at 89-all. In the second OT, Wertz threw in a long 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Broncos a 94-90 lead with 2:23 remaining and USC got no closer after that, making just one bucket in the frame. Jordan Usher finished with a team-high 22 points, making 18 points in the second half (8-for-8 from the FT line) to lead the comeback. Mathews added 20 and Aaron 17. Wertz finished with a game-high 28 points for the Broncos. USC made 39.0 percent of its shots, while Santa Clara made 53.1 percent. USC was just 5-for-28 (17.9 percent) from 3-point range.
UC DAVIS ON DECK - USC's next game will be vs. UC Davis (3-7) at the Galen Center on Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. UC Davis defeated William Jessup 83-65 in its last game on Dec. 16 and will play at Arizona on Dec. 22 and at LMU on Dec. 28 before facing USC. Senior guard T.J. Shorts II leads UC Davis in scoring, averaging 13.8 points per game. UC Davis went 22-11 last season and returned three starters from that team. This is the first meeting between the two schools.
RAKOCEVIC HAS BEEN A FORCE - Junior forward Nick Rakocevic scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds vs. Oklahoma on Dec. 15 for his sixth double-double of the season. He is tied for ninth in the country in double-doubles and his 10.9 rebounds per game this season ranks ninth nationally and tops in the Pac-12. Rakocevic is also averaging a double-double by averaging a team-best 14.5 points per game. He began the season with three consecutive double-doubles before getting 9 points and 9 rebounds vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 19, snapping a streak of five consecutive double-doubles dating back to last season. He became the first USC player to record three double-doubles to start a season since Sam Clancy did it to start the 2001-02 season. His five consecutive double-doubles were the most by a USC player since Nikola Vucevic had eight-straight during the 2011 season.
LOSING THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT - With the 2-OT loss at Santa Clara on Dec. 18, USC fell to 0-4 in December this season. In Enfield's previous five seasons as USC's head coach, USC had a 27-7 record in games played in December.
DID THEY MOVE THE LINE BACK? - In USC's first seven games it made 41.8 percent ( 61-for-146) of its three-point attempts, making seven or more in six of the games. During the four-game losing streak, USC has made 27.6 percent (24-for-87) of its three-point attempts.
ENFIELD EYES THE CENTURY MARK - USC head coach Andy Enfield has a 99-82 record in his six seasons at the helm of the USC program. He has led the Trojans into the postseason each of the last three seasons, combining to win 71 games, the most in a three-year stretch in school history. He has a 140-110 overall record in eight seasons as a head coach.
CHALLENGING COMPETITION - The six teams USC has lost to this season (Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Nevada, TCU, Oklahoma & Santa Clara) have a combined 52-10 record. USC has also played two (Nevada & Texas Tech) of the nine remaining undefeated teams this season.
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