USC Returns Home To Square Off With Rival UCLA Saturday

The USC Trojans (9-8, 2-2) will host the UCLA Bruins (10-7, 3-1) at the Galen Center on Jan. 19 at 1 p.m. USC has won its last four home games. USC is 2-0 at home in Pac-12 play and has won 11 of its last 13 conference home games.

BREAKING DOWN UCLA - UCLA is coming off a split of the Oregon road trip, winning 87-84 in overtime at Oregon on Jan. 10, then falling 79-66 at Oregon State on Jan. 13. Sophomore Kris Wilkes leads four Bruins scoring in double figures with a 17.3 average. USC lost both games to UCLA last season, falling 82-79 at UCLA on Feb. 3 and 83-72 at the Galen Center on March 3. USC has lost four consecutive games to UCLA, but won the previous four games against the Bruins. USC trails in the all-time series 108-142 (1 USC win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 109-142).

USC TRAILS ENTIRE WAY AT OREGON - USC surrendered the first six points of the game and never led in an 81-60 loss at Oregon on Jan. 13. Oregon built a 36-21 lead, but the Trojans scored the final seven points of the first half to cut the deficit to eight at the break. The Ducks scored the first five points of the second half and USC trailed by double-digits the rest of the way. USC made just 42.6 percent of its shots and 27.8 percent from three-point range, while Oregon made 55.6 percent of its shots, including 54.2 percent from three-point range. Jonah Mathews scored 15 points and Bennie Boatwright 13 to lead USC. The Trojans were outrebounded 35-24 and outsciored 17-6 in second chance points. USC was also outscored 21-8 in bench points.

ARIZONA ON DECK - USC's next game will be vs. Arizona (13-4, 4-0) at the Galen Center on Jan. 24. Arizona will host Oregon on Jan. 17 and Oregon State on Jan. 19 before facing USC.
Sophomore guard Brandon Randolph leads Arizona in scoring with a 16.3 scoring average. USC has lost its last five games against the Wildcats, including twice last season: 81-67 at Arizona on Feb. 10 and 75-61 in the Pac-12 Tournament title game in Las Vegas, Nev. on March 10. USC is 6-4 against Arizona at the Galen Center and has won 7 of the last 11 home games against Arizona.

THE "BOAT" SETTING SAIL - USC senior forward Bennie Boatwright has averaged 20.3 points (142 total), 7.4 rebounds (52 total) and 2.9 assists (20 total) in the last seven games. He has also made 52.6 percent of his shots in the seven games (51-for-97). Boatwright scored a career-best 37 points on 14 of 24 shooting (4 of 9 from 3-point range) at Oregon State on Jan. 10. His 37 points scored were tied for the 11th best all-time in a game by a USC player and the most since O.J. Mayo also scored 37 on March 1, 2008 (player participation later vacated, previous time a Trojan scored 37: Rodney Chatman in 1993). His 14 field goals also tied him for the 10th-most in a game in school history, last done by Brian Scalabrine in 2000.

LOSING THE BENCH BATTLE - In USC's four Pac-12 games, the Trojans have been outscored 86-23 in bench points or an average of 15.75 points per game.

THE THREES CAN BE KEY - USC is shooting 36.1 percent from three-point range this season which is third among Pac-12 teams. USC is 7-3 in games it makes seven or more three-pointers this season and 4-6 in games the opposition makes at least seven three-pointers. In the last four games, USC has made 31.5 percent (23-for-73) of its shots from beyond the arc, while its opponent has made 42.9 percent (42-for-98).

SHARING THE ROCK - USC is 9-0 in games this season when it has 16 or more assists.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS - USC has outscored the opposition in the second half in 13 of its first 17 games. USC has outscored its opponents 718-653 in the second half. USC has made 49.8 percent of its shots in the second half (259-for-520), including 40.9 pecent from three-point range (70-for-171).

CHALLENGING COMPETITION - The eight teams USC has lost to this season (Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Nevada, TCU, Oklahoma, Santa Clara, Oregon State & Oregon) have a combined 98-32 record. USC has also played two teams with one loss or less (there are only 7 remaining), and three teams currently ranked in the Top 25: No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 10 Nevada and No. 20 Oklahoma.

BOATWRIGHT KEEPS RISING UP THE USC SCORING CHARTS - Senior Bennie Boatwright missed the first two games of the season while still coming back from offseason knee surgery, but has averaged a team-leading 17.1 points per game since his return. He scored 14 points vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 19 to give him 1,008 career points. He now has scored 1,234 career points which ranks 23rd on USC's all-time scoring list, 13 behind Purvis Miller (22nd, 1,247), 14 behind Stais Boseman (21st, 1,248) and 50 behind Chimezie Metu (20th, 1,284). Boatwright has averaged 13.7 points (1,234) in 90 career games played, despite being slowed by injuries. Boatwright averaged 13.6 points in 23 games last season, first being slowed by a foot injury and then having his season end with a knee injury. He led USC to the 2017 Diamond Head Classic title by scoring a then career-high 33 points vs. New Mexico State on Dec. 25, making a career-best six three-point baskets. Boatwright has also made 185 career three-point baskets, tied for fifth with Jordan McLaughlin on USC's all-time list, 18 behind Desmon Farmer (4th, 203).

Players Mentioned

Bennie Boatwright

Jonah Mathews

Jordan McLaughlin

Chimezie Metu