USC To Host Colorado Saturday At Galen

The USC Trojans (13-10, 6-4) will host the Colorado Buffaloes (13-9, 4-6) at the Galen Center on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. USC has won eight of its last 12 games and is tied for second in the conference standings.

BREAKING DOWN COLORADO - Colorado (13-9, 4-6) is coming off an 84-73 win at UCLA on Feb. 6 and has won its last two conference games. Sophomores McKinley Wright (12.7) and Tyler Bey (12.5) lead four Buffaloes averaging double figures in scoring. USC defeated Colorado 70-58 at home and 75-64 in Boulder, Colo. last season and has won its last four games against Colorado. USC trails in the all-time series, 7-9.

USC FALLS TO UTAH FOR FIRST PAC-12 HOME LOSS - USC trailed by 14 at halftime and as many as 23 points before falling 77-70 vs. Utah at the Galen Center on Feb. 6. USC virtually trailed the whole game as Utah jumped out to a 7-0 lead. After USC rallied to tie it at 7-all, the Utes scored the next 8 points and USC was chasing the remainder of the game. Utah built its 14-point halftime lead to as many as 23 points in the second half, before USC showed some life. USC went on a 24-8 run from 10:37 to the 2:56 mark, but could get no closer. Utah actually built the lead back to 14 points with 25 seconds remaining, but USC outscored the Utes 9-2 in the final 23 seconds for the final margin of 7 points. USC made 38.0 percent of its shots, while Utah made 45.6 percent. Utah also made 11 3-pointers in the game. Bennie Boatwright had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Jonah Mathews scored 18 points to lead USC and made 4 3-pointers. USC lost its first Pac-12 home game of the season (5-1) and had its 7-game home winning streak snapped.

STANFORD ON DECK - USC's next game will be at the Stanford Cardinal (12-10, 5-5) at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. on Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. Stanford has won three straight games and will play at Oregon on Feb. 10 before hosting USC. Sophomore forward KZ Okpala leads Stanford in scoring with a 17.7 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.

RAKOCEVIC CONTINUES HIS ROLL - USC forward Nick Rakocevic has averaged 19.0 points (114 total) and 10.8 rebounds (65 total) in USC's last six games. He 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 16.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. He currently ranks among the Pac-12's top 10 in six categories: rebounds (2nd), blocked shots (5th), scoring average (9th), field goal percentage (9th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (3rd).

MATHEWS THE MARKSMAN - Junior Jonah Mathews leads USC with 57 three-point baskets made this season, connecting at a 42.5 percent clip. He has made 36 of 75 three-point attempts (48.0 percent) in the last 12 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 has at least one 3-pointer made in every game this season and 2 or more in eight consecutive games. He made a season-best 6 three-pointers (out of 7 attempts) at WSU on Feb. 2. Mathews has scored 38 points and made 10 3-pointers in USC's last two games.

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.

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 17.3 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 1,341 career points which is tied for 16th on USC's all-time scoring list with Lorenzo Orr and 61 behind Elijah Stewart (15th, 1,402) . Boatwright has averaged 14.0 points (1,341) in 96 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 200 career three-point baskets, 3 behind Desmon Farmer (4th, 203) and 18 behind Brandon Granville (3rd, 218) on USC's all-time list.

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Players Mentioned

Bennie Boatwright

Jonah Mathews

Nick Rakocevic

Elijah Stewart