USC Heads To The Bay Area To Face Stanford Wednesday

The USC Trojans (13-11, 6-5) will play at the Stanford Cardinal (12-11, 5-6) at Maples Pavilion on Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. USC has lost his last two games, but has won 8 of its last 13 games.

BREAKING DOWN STANFORD - Stanford is coming off a 69-46 loss at Oregon on Feb.10, following a three-game winning streak. Stanford is 7-2 at home this season. Sophomore forward KZ Okpala leads Stanford in scoring with a 17.4 points per game average. USC defeated Stanford 77-66 on Jan. 6 at the Galen Center to make it two consecutive wins over the Cardinal and now trails in the all-time series 125-126 (1 win by USC vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 126-126). USC has lost its last four games at Stanford, including last season's heart-breaking 77-76 setback when Daejon Davis hit a 55-footer at the buzzer.

USC LOSES SECOND CONSECUTIVE HOME GAME - USC lost to Colorado 69-65 on Feb. 9 at the Galen Center in a tight game which neither team led by more than five points. The loss snapped a 50-game winning streak for USC when holding its opponents to under 70 points scored. The game was tied 65-all when Jonah Mathews hit a jumper in the paint with 1:49 remaining, but that would be USC's final points. CU took a two-point lead with 1:36 remaining when McKinley Wright hit a driving layup. Shaqquan Aaron and Derryck Thornton missed three pointers sandwiched around a Wright missed three-pointer. USC was forced to foul D'Shawn Schwartz with 14 seconds remaining and he hit a pair of free throws for the final margin. Bennie Boatwright then missed on a long 3-pointer and the Buffaloes ran out the clock. Boatwright finished with a game-high 24 points and Aaron, with 13 points, was the only other Trojan in double-figures.

CALIFORNIA ON DECK - USC's next game will be at California (5-18, 0-11) on Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. The Golden Bears will host UCLA on Feb. 13 before hosting USC. Sophomore Justice Sueing leads California in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg). USC defeated California 82-73 at the Galen Center to open Pac-12 play this season and has won its last three games against the Golden Bears. California leads the all-time series 136-125 (1 win vacated by USC due to NCAA penalty, original record 136-126). USC won 80-62 at California last season, snapping a five-game losing streak at Haas Pavilion.

RAKOCEVIC HAS BEEN DOUBLE TROUBLE - USC forward Nick Rakocevic posted his conference-leading 11th double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds at Washington State on Feb. 2. He now has five games with 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds, leading all Pac-12 players. He has scored at least 15 points in 14 games and has at least 8 rebounds in 17 games. Rakocevic is averaging 15.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. He currently ranks among the Pac-12's top 10 in six categories: rebounds (2nd), blocked shots (5th), scoring average (10th), field goal percentage (9th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (3rd).

MATHEWS LONG-RANGE STREAK SNAPPED - Junior Jonah Mathews was in foul trouble early and finished 0-for-3 from three-point range vs. Colorado on Feb. 9. It was his first game all season without making a three-pointer and snapped a streak of 28 consecutive games with at least one make from beyond the arc. Mathews had made at least two three-point baskets in each of the previous eight games. He leads USC with 57 three-point baskets made this season, connecting at a 41.6 percent clip. He has made 36 of 78 three-point attempts (46.2 percent) in the last 13 games. His 57 makes from beyond the arc are second in the Pac-12. Mathews now has 157 career three-point baskets made which ranks 11th on USC's all-time list, 6 behind Elias Ayuso who is 10th with 163. Mathews made a season-best 6 three-pointers (out of 7 attempts) at WSU on Feb. 2.

RECORD-SETTING STRETCH - USC has won 84 games during the last four seasons (2016-19), the most wins in a four-year stretch in school history. The 2006-09 teams won 85 games, but 21 wins were vacated from the 2008 season due to NCAA penalty.

DISTRIBUTING THE ROCK - USC has averaged 19.8 assists in its wins and 11.7 assists in its losses. USC leads Pac-12 teams with 387 assists. Derryck Thornton leads USC and is second in the conference with 110 assists. USC's 1.3 assist to turnover ratio is tops in the Pac-12. USC is 12-0 this season when it has 16 or more assists. USC ranks 27th in the country in assists per game (16.1).

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 17.6 points per game (3rd 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 1,365 career points which is 16th on USC's all-time scoring, 37 points behind Elijah Stewart (15th, 1,402) . Boatwright has averaged 14.1 points (1,365) in 97 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 203 career three-point baskets, tied with Desmon Farmer (4th, 203) and 15 behind Brandon Granville (3rd, 218) on USC's all-time list.

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Players Mentioned

Shaqquan Aaron

Bennie Boatwright

Jonah Mathews

Nick Rakocevic

Elijah Stewart

Derryck Thornton