University Southern California Trojans
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USC Hosts Arizona State Saturday
February 28, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Features
SATURDAY'S GAME - The USC Trojans (20-9, 9-7) will host the Arizona State Sun Devils (19-9, 10-5) at the Galen Center on Feb. 29 at 5 p.m. The game will air on ESPNU with Dave Feldman and Adrian Branch calling the action. This is USC's second of three straight home games to close the regular season. USC is 12-2 at home this season, including 8-1 in its last nine. USC has notched its 21st 20-win season in school history, four under Andy Enfield's leadership. It's the first "green game," aiming for zero waste, at the Galen Center, which recently installed solar panels.
BREAKING DOWN ARIZONA STATE -- The Arizona State Sun Devils (19-9, 10-5) are coming off a 75-72 last second loss at UCLA that snapped ASU's six-game winning streak. Arizona State is led by Remy Martin (19.5 ppg), Alonzo Verge Jr. (14.5 ppg), Rob Edwards (11.3 ppg) and Romello White (10.3 ppg). USC lost 66-64 at Arizona State on Feb. 8. USC has won four of its last five games vs. Arizona State at home, and leads in the all-time series 54-42 (with two wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 56-42).
TROJANS UPSET ARIZONA -- Jonah Mathews scored 14 points and Onyeka Okongwu recorded his 11th double double of the season — 11 points and 10 rebounds — as USC defeated Arizona, 57-48, on Feb. 27. The victory over the Wildcats, who were No. 7 in the NET rankings, gave the Trojans a much-needed quality win against a Quadrant 1 team to boost their NCAA Tournament chances. The win also helped USC remain in contention for a top-four seed needed for a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament. USC held Arizona, the Pac-12's highest scoring team, to its lowest point total of the season. The Wildcats shot just 16-of-57 from the field (28.1%) and were only 3-of-26 (11.5%) from the 3-point line. Okongwu finished the game with four blocks. With time expiring in the first half, he hit a long shot from the opposite 3-point line at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 26-21 advantage at halftime. The game was tightly contested prior to the shot, but Okongwu's prayer gave USC momentum heading into the second half. It helped build a lead that the Trojans wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game, though USC fought off a late Arizona charge that brought the Wildcats within three points with 3:53 left. It was a balanced scoring affair for the Trojans, who also saw contributions from Ethan Anderson (seven points), Daniel Utomi (nine points), Isaiah Mobley (eight points) and Elijah Weaver (eight points). Anderson had a season-high three steals and helped contain Arizona star point guard Nico Mannion to just 3-for-14 from the field. Zeke Nnaji had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.
UCLA ON DECK -- The UCLA Bruins (18-11, 11-5) have won six consecutive games (and 10 of their last 12) to move into a first place tie in the Pac-12, the latest a 75-72 last second home win vs. Arizona State on Feb. 27. USC won at UCLA, 74-63, on Jan. 11. UCLA leads the all-time series 143-109 (1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 143-108). Junior guard Chris Smith leads UCLA in scoring with a 13.0 average.
BOARD BROTHERS -- USC forwards Nick Rakocevic (8.3) and Onyeka Okongwu (8.9) are one of five pairs of teammates in Division I averaging 8.5 rebounds or more per game. The other schools with a tandem of rebounders averaging 8.5 rebounds or more per game are Eastern Washington, Saint Louis, West Virginia and William & Mary.
THE SURGING SENIOR -- Senior guard Jonah Mathews has averaged 14.1 points in the last 14 games (198 total). He scored in double figures in 7-straight games from Jan. 11-Feb. 1, the second-longest double-figure scoring streak of his career. Mathews has also made 38.2 percent of his 3-point shots in that stretch (29-for-76) and 81.3 percent of his free throws (39-for-48). Mathews now has 1,348 points, 17th on USC's all-time scoring list and his 239 career 3-pointers made is third on USC's all-time list behind Elijah Stewart (245) and Bennie Boatwright (243).
ENFIELD'S WINNING WAYS -- USC head coach Andy Enfield has led USC to 130 victories which ranks fifth on USC's all-time list, two behind Henry Bibby who led USC to 132 wins. Sam Barry is the winningest coach in USC history at 260, followed by Forrest Twogood at 251 and Bob Boyd at 216. USC has won 107 games combined in the last five seasons, the winningest five-year stretch in school history.
