USC Travels To Face Pac-12 Leader Washington Wednesday

The USC Trojans (12-8, 5-2) take on the Washington Huskies (16-4, 7-0) at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash. on Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. USC has won three consecutive games and seven of its last nine. USC is 0-4 on the road this season, 0-2 in Pac-12 play.

BREAKING DOWN WASHINGTON - Washington is coming off a road sweep, winning 79-69 at Oregon State on Jan. 26 and 61-56 at Oregon on Jan. 24. Washington has won nine consecutive games and is 10-0 at home this season, the only Pac-12 team without a home loss. Sophomore Jaylen Nowell leads the Huskies in scoring with a 17.0 average. USC lost at home 88-81 in its only meeting against Washington last season. The all-time series is tied 72-all (2 USC wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 74-72).

BOATWRIGHT STICKS A FORK IN THE SUN DEVILS - Bennie Boatwright nailed a three-pointer with 11.1 seconds remaining to propel USC to a 69-67 win over Arizona State on Jan. 26. USC had led 62-57 with 6:30 remaining, when ASU's Remy Martin went on a personal 8-0 run, his second straight three-pointer giving the Sun Devils a 65-62 lead. Nick Rakocevic then made a layup and a pair of free throws to give USC a 66-65 lead with 1:46 remaining. ASU's Luguentz Dort hit a pair of free throws with 1:35 left to give the Sun Devils the lead and after a pair of empty possesions for both teams, the stage was set for Boatwright's heroics. USC trailed 38-35 at halftime, but came out on a 17-6 run after halftime to open up its biggest lead of the game at 52-44 with 13:30 remaining. USC held ASU to 26.7 percent shooting in the second half and 30.8 percent overall. ASU outrebounded USC 49-35. Boatwright led USC with 17 points and Rakocevic added 15 points and 9 rebounds. Shaqquan Aaron kept the Trojans close in the first half by going 3-for-3 from three-point range and scoring 11 of his 13 points in the game.

WASHINGTON STATE ON DECK - USC's next game will be at Washington State (8-12, 1-6) on Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. WSU has lost 9 of its last 10 games and will host UCLA on Jan. 30 before facing USC. WSU has an 8-2 record at home this season. Senior forward Robert Franks leads the Cougars in scoring (21.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg). USC has won its last five games against WSU and has won three straight in Pullman, Wash. USC leads the all-time series with Washington State 74-48.

RAKOCEVIC CONTINUES HIS ROLL - USC junior forward Nick Rakocevic matched a career high with 27 points and added 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season vs. Arizona on Jan. 24 and followed it up with 15 points and 9 rebounds vs. Arizona State on Jan. 26. He has scored at least 15 points in 12 games and has at least 8 rebounds in 14 games. Rakocevic is averaging 15.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He currently ranks among the Pac-12's top 10 in five categories: rebounds (2nd), blocked shots (4th), field goal percentage (9th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (3rd) and ranks 11th in scoring average.

THE "BOAT" SETTING SAIL - USC senior forward Bennie Boatwright has averaged 19.2 points (192 total), 7.5 rebounds (75 total) and 2.9 assists (29 total) in the last 10 games. He has also made 49.6 percent of his shots in those games (68-for-137). Boatwright scored a career-best 37 points on 14 of 24 shooting (4 of 9 from 3-point range) at Oregon St. 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 2008. His 14 FGs also tied him for the 10th-most in a game in school history, last done by Brian Scalabrine in 2000. He is 2nd among Pac-12 players with a 20.1 scoring average in Pac-12 play.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS - USC has outscored the opposition in the second half in 16 of its first 20 games. USC has outscored its opponents 840-754 in the second half. USC has made 49.8 percent of its shots in the second half (305-for-612), including 41.5 pecent from three-point range (86-for-207).

GETTING A LITTLE DEFENSIVE AT HOME - USC held its three opponents on the just concluded homestand (UCLA, Arizona & ASU) to 33.2 percent shooting (68-for-205) and 63.7 ppg.
THE MAGIC MARKER - With the 69-67 win over Arizona State on Jan. 26, USC has now won 40 consecutive games in which it allows 70 points or less.

DISTRIBUTING THE ROCK - USC has averaged 19.9 assists in its wins and 11.5 assists in its losses. USC leads Pac-12 teams with 331 assists. Derryck Thornton leads USC and is second in the conference with 96 assists. USC's 1.4 assist to turnover ratio is tops in the Pac-12. USC is 11-0 this season when it has 16 or more assists.

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 17.0 points per game (5th in Pac-12) since his return. He scored 14 points vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 19 to give him 1,008 career points. He now has scored 1,284 career points which ties him for 20th on USC's all-time scoring list with his former roommate Chimezie Metu (20th, 1,284) and 23 behind Taj Gibson (19th, 1,307). Boatwright has averaged 13.8 points (1,284) in 93 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 194 career three-point baskets, 9 behind Desmon Farmer (203) for fourth on USC's all-time list.

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Players Mentioned

Shaqquan Aaron

Bennie Boatwright

Chimezie Metu

Nick Rakocevic

Derryck Thornton