USC Travels Crosstown to Face Rival UCLA Thursday

The USC Trojans (15-13, 8-7) will play at the UCLA Bruins (15-13, 8-7) at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood, Calif. on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. USC is 2-6 in road games this season, but has won two of its last three road games, with the loss being a game it led by four points and was shooting free throws with 59 seconds remaining.

BREAKING DOWN UCLA - UCLA is coming off a 90-83 comeback win over Oregon on Feb. 23, a game it trailed by 19 points in the second half. The Bruins have won three of their last four games. Sophomore Kris Wilkes leads UCLA in scoring with a 17.2 average. USC defeated UCLA 80-67 at the Galen Center on Jan. 19. UCLA leads in the all-time series 142-109 (1 USC win in 2008 vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record: 142-110).

USC FALLS TO OREGON STATE ON SENIOR DAY - Oregon State finished the game on a 12-6 run over the final 3:35 to defeat USC 67-62 at the Galen Center on Feb.23. USC fell to 4-6 in its last 10 Senior Days. USC had rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to take a 56-55 lead on a Jonah Mathews three-pointer with 3:54 remaining, but Kylor Kelley's dunk with 3:35 left gave OSU the lead for good. OSU's Tres Tinkle made four free throws and Ethan Thompson two over the next three minutes to to put the game away at 63-56 with 38 seconds left. USC trailed 31-27 at halftime and fell behind by 10 points early in the second half. Still trailing by seven points at 51-44 with 8:23 remaining, USC began its comback as it went on a 12-4 run, fueled with seven points by Mathews, including the three-pointer which briefly put the Trojans ahead. Mathews finished with a team-high 15 points and seniors Bennie Boatwright scored 13 points and Shaqquan Aaron 12. Kevin Porter Jr. had his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Rakocevic was in foul trouble all game before fouling out after playing 9:39 and being held to four points and one rebound.

SEARCHING FOR "THE FREE" IN FREE THROWS - USC was outscored 15-0 from the free throw line in its 67-62 loss to Oregon State on Feb. 23. It was the first time in school history that the Trojans did not score a point from the free throw line (0-for-6). The previous low for free throws made in a game was one done four times, last in the 2012 season. The previous school record for lowest free throw percentage in a game was 14.3 (1-for-7) set in 1979. USC is shooting 64.9 percent from the free throw line this season, 11th in the conference and 329 out of 351 schools.

UTAH ON DECK - USC's next game will be at Utah (15-12, 9-6) on March 7 at 7 p.m. PT. Utah will play at Colorado on March 2 before hosting USC. The Utes defeated USC 77-70 at the Galen Center on Feb. 6. Utah is led in scoring by senior guard Sedrick Barefield who averages 16.7 points per game. Utah leads the all-time series 23-19.

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 in one of two Pac-12 players with five games with 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds. He has scored at least 15 points in 16 games and has at least 8 rebounds in 20 games. Rakocevic is averaging 15.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. He currently ranks among the Pac-12's top 10 in five categories: rebounds (3rd), blocked shots (6th), field goal percentage (9th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (4th), as well as ranking 11th in scoring.

RECORD-SETTING STRETCH - USC has won 86 games during the last four seasons (2016-19), the most wins in a four-year stretch in school history.

BENNIE AND THE NETS - Bennie Boatwright has made 19 three-point baskets in the last three games (19-for-29, 65.5 percent) and is 27-for-46 from three-point range (58.7 percent) the last six games. He set the USC record for three-pointers in a game and tied the Pac-12 record with 10 (10 of 13) at California on Feb. 16. He became the fourth Pac-12 to make 10 in a game.

DISTRIBUTING THE ROCK - USC has averaged 20.1 assists in its wins and 12.1 assists in its losses. USC leads Pac-12 teams with 459 assists. Derryck Thornton leads USC and is third in the conference with 130 assists. USC's 1.3 assist to turnover ratio is tops in the Pac-12. USC is 14-0 this season when it has 16 or more assists. USC ranks 21st in the country in assists per game (16.4).

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 18.3 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 1,453 career points which is 12th on USC's all-time scoring, 7 behind Dwight Lewis (11th, 1,460), 13 behind Lodrick Stewart (10th, 1,466) and 30 behind Derrick Dowell (9th, 1,483). Boatwright has averaged 14.4 points (1,453) in 101 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 224 career three-point baskets, 3rd on USC's all-time list, 8 behind Lodrick Stewart (2nd, 232) and 21 behind Elijah Stewart (1st, 245) on USC's all-time list.

PORTER JR. SETTLING IN - Freshman guard Kevin Porter Jr. has played the last 10 games, his longest consecutive games streak of the season. He scored 10 points at Stanford on Feb. 13, his first game in double figures since scoring 14 against Arizona on Jan. 24, and followed it up with 14 points at California on Feb. 16 (3-for-4 from 3-point range). He picked up his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds vs. Oregon State on Feb. 23 and has averaged 10 points and 6.0 rebounds over the last four games. He scored in double figures the first five games of the season before being injured, the only Trojan to do so. Porter Jr. scored 15 points in his collegiate debut on Nov. 6 vs. RMU, the most points by a Trojan freshman in his first game since Jordan McLaughlin scored 19 points in his debut in 2014. He made his first career start vs. Stetson on Nov. 14 and scored 12 points. Porter Jr. suffered a quadriceps injury in the game against Missouri State on Nov. 20 which caused him to miss all but 4 minutes of action during the next 10 USC games (4 minutes vs. Nevada on Dec. 1, 0 points).

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Players Mentioned

Shaqquan Aaron

Bennie Boatwright

Jonah Mathews

Jordan McLaughlin

Kevin Porter Jr.

Nick Rakocevic

Elijah Stewart

Derryck Thornton