USC Opens Final Homestand Hosting Oregon

The USC Trojans (14-12, 7-6) will host the Oregon Ducks (15-10, 6-6) at the Galen Center on Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. USC has lost its last two home games, but is 11-4 at the Galen Center this season. This is the final homestand of the season for USC, which closes the season with road games at UCLA, Utah and Colorado.

BREAKING DOWN OREGON - Oregon (15-10, 6-6) is coming off a 72-57 loss at Oregon State on Feb. 16, but is 4-2 in its last six games. Freshman forward Louis King leads the Ducks in scoring with a 12.9 average. Oregon defeated USC 81-60 in Eugene, Ore. on Jan. 13, snapping USC's three-game winning streak against the Ducks, all last season. USC leads the all-time series 63-57, which reflects two wins in 2008 vacated due to NCAA penalty (original record, USC leads 65-57).

TROJANS SHOOT DOWN THE BEARS FROM LONG DISTANCE - Bennie Boatwright made a USC record 10 3-pointers and tied the Pac-12 single-game mark and the Trojans rolled to an 89-66 win at California on Feb. 16. USC opened with an 11-0 run fueled by two three-pointers by Boatwright and never looked back. USC made 19 three-pointers in the game which was one short of the school record of 20 set on Jan. 29, 2000 at Oregon State. Boatwright led the way by scoring 36 points and making 10 of 13 three-pointers (76.9 percent), breaking the USC record of 9 three-pointers made in a game and tying the Pac-12 single game record done by three other players. USC made 52.6 percent of its field goals and 61.3 percent of its three-pointers in the game, while holding Cal to 40.0 percent shooting and 34.6 percent from three-point range. USC's shooting percentage from three-point range was its highest since making 61.9 percent vs. Lafayette on Dec. 13, 2015. Kevin Porter Jr. scored 14 points and Nick Rakocevic had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. USC had 24 assists and improved to 13-0 when registering 16 or more assists in a game.

OREGON STATE ON DECK - USC's next game will be vs. Oregon State (16-8, 8-4) at the Galen Center on Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. Oregon State will play at UCLA on Feb. 21 before facing USC. Oregon State defeated USC 79-74 in overtime in Corvallis, Ore. on Jan. 10, snapping the Trojans' six-game winning streak against the Beavers. USC leads the all-time series 73-64 (2 USC wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 75-64). Redshirt junior forward Tres Tinkle leads OSU in scoring with a 20.1 average per game.

RAKOCEVIC HAS BEEN DOUBLE TROUBLE - USC forward Nick Rakocevic posted his conference-leading 13th double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds at California on Feb. 16. He also 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 15 games and has at least 8 rebounds in 19 games. Rakocevic is averaging 15.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He currently ranks among the Pac-12's top 10 in five categories: rebounds (2nd), blocked shots (6th), scoring average (10th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (3rd) and ranks 11th in field goal percentage.

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

THE THREES CAN BE KEY - USC is shooting 38.7 percent from three-point range this season which leads all Pac-12 teams and ranks 20th in the country. USC is 12-6 in games it makes seven or more three-pointers this season.

BOATWRIGHT SETS RECORD - USC forward Bennie Boatwright set the USC single-game three-point baskets made record and tied the Pac-12 record by making 10 shots from beyond the arc at California on Feb. 16. Boatwright beat the previous school record of 9 three-pointers made done by Anthony Pendleton and Katin Reinhardt. He also tied the Pac-12 record of 10 three-pointers made in a single game, also done by Tajuan Porter, Stevin Smith and Robert Franks.

DISTRIBUTING THE ROCK - USC has averaged 20.1 assists in its wins and 11.9 assists in its losses. USC leads Pac-12 teams with 425 assists. Derryck Thornton leads USC and is second in the conference with 120 assists. USC's 1.3 assist to turnover ratio is tops in the Pac-12. USC is 13-0 this season when it has 16 or more assists. USC ranks 20th in the country in assists per game (16.3).

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS - USC has outscored the opposition in the second half in 18 of its first 26 games. USC has outscored its opponents 1,090-1,008 in the second half. USC has made 49.3 percent of its shots in the second half (389-for-789), including 43.2 percent from three-point range (120-for-278).

BENCH COMING ALIVE - USC's bench has been outscored in 10 of 13 games in conference play, but has won the bench battle the last two games: 32-24 at Stanford on Feb. 13 and 34-20 at California on Feb. 16. Through 13 conference games, USC has been outscored 280-158 in bench points.

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 18.4 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 1,420 career points which is 15th on USC's all-time scoring, 3 points behind John Block (14th, 1,423), 10 behind Brandon Granville (13th, 1,430) and 21 behind Brian Scalabrine (12th, 1,441). Boatwright has averaged 14.3 points (1,420) in 99 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 215 career three-point baskets, 4th on USC's all-time list and 3 behind Brandon Granville (3rd, 218) and 17 behind Lodrick Stewart (2nd, 232) on USC's all-time list.

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Players Mentioned

Bennie Boatwright

Kevin Porter Jr.

Nick Rakocevic

Derryck Thornton