USC Men's Basketball Hosts No. 8/9 Arizona In Battle For Second Place In Pac-12 Standings

The USC Trojans (21-8, 13-5) will host the Arizona Wildcats (24-5, 13-5) at the Galen Center on March 2 at 8:00 p.m. The teams are currently tied for second in the Pac-12 standings. The game will air on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton calling the action. USC has won 8 of its last 10 games.

USC'S STELLAR STRETCH -- USC has won a school-record 94 games over the last four seasons (22 in 2020, 25 in 2021, 26 in 2022 and 21 in 2023). The four consecutive seasons of 20+ wins sets a school record for most consecutive 20-win seasons, breaking the mark of three consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins from 2016-18.

WINNING WAYS -- USC's 73 total wins the previous three seasons tied for the third most among all Power 6 basketball programs, trailing only the last two NCAA champions Kansas (83) and Baylor (81). Also, USC's 160 wins the previous seven seasons ranked 13th among all Power 6 conference teams.

ENFIELD WINS 200TH AS HEAD OF THE USC PROGRAM -- USC head coach Andy Enfield is in his 10th season at USC and has compiled an 204-126 record. He picked up his 200th win on Feb. 4 vs. Washington. Enfield's win total ranks fourth on USC's all-time wins list, trailing only Sam Barry (260), Forrest Twogood (251) and Bob Boyd (216). Including his two seasons as the head coach at FGCU (2012-13), Enfield has compiled a 245-154 record.

FACING ARIZONA -- The No. 8/No. 9 Arizona Wildcats (24-5, 13-5) are coming off a tough 89-88 home loss to Arizona State on Feb. 25, as the Sun Devils' Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a 60-footer at the buzzer. Azuolas Tubelis leads the Wildcats with averages of 19.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Arizona has five players scoring in double figures. Arizona defeated USC 81-66 in Tucson, Ariz on Jan. 19. USC trails in the all-time series with Arizona 45-72* (1 win and 1 loss later vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 46-73).

ARIZONA STATE ON DECK -- USC's next game will be vs. the Arizona State Sun Devils (20-9, 11-7) at the Galen Center on March 4 at 8:00 p.m. Arizona State defeated Arizona 89-88 on Feb. 25 and will play at UCLA on March 2 before facing USC. The Sun Devils have won four of their last five games, including three-straight road games. Guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. leads Arizona State with a 14.3 scoring average. USC defeated Arizona State 77-69 in Tempe, Ariz. on Jan. 21. USC has won its last six games with Arizona State and leads the all-time series 60-42* (2 wins later vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 62-42).

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE -- USC held California to 27.7 shooting on Nov. 30, the lowest by an opponent since holding Stanford to a 25.4 shooting percentage on March 3, 2021. USC allowed Oregon to make 53.8 percent of its shots on Feb. 9, the only opponent this season to make more than 50 percent of its shots against USC. USC has held its opponent to under 40 percent shooting in 17 of its 29 games this season. USC is holding its opponents to a 38.9 shooting percentage this season, 8th in the country. Over the last four seasons, USC's defense has held the opposition to 38.8 FG percentage, 2nd in the country.

LEADERS OF THE PAC -- USC is third in conference regular season wins among Pac-12 teams for the past six seasons (since the 2017-18 season). USC is 73-39, Arizona is 74-38, while UCLA is 76-35 in that stretch, through games of Feb. 23. Next up would be Oregon at 68-42 and Colorado at 61-52.

ENJOYING THE HOME COOKING -- USC is 14-1 at the Galen Center this season, losing the opener to FGCU on Nov. 7, then winning the next 14 games. The 14-game home winning streak is USC's longest single-season home winning streak since the Trojans won the first 15 games at the Galen Center in the 2015-16 season. It is also tied for the third-longest home winning streak in school history.

PETERSON PROVIDING A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING -- Guard Drew Peterson is one of two players in a Power 6 conference (Jalen Pickett of Penn State) averaging at least 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this season. Peterson is averaging 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. He scored a career-high 30 points vs. Cal on Feb. 16 and has 24 games scoring in double figures. He also averages more than a steal a game.

JEKYLL & HYDE FROM WAY OUTSIDE -- USC made 52.2 percent of its 3-pointers vs. California on Feb. 16, its highest shooting percentage from beyond the arc since making 53.8 percent vs. Washington State on Feb. 20, 2022. USC then made a season-best 13 3-pointers vs. Stanford on Feb. 18. USC now has 12 games this season making at least 38 percent from 3-point range. In those 12 games USC has made 46.7 percent of its 3-pointers (119-for-255), while it has averaged 23.2 percent from beyond the arc in the other 17 games (65-for-280).

WHEN FULLY LOADED... -- USC owns an 8-1 record in games this season it has all of its rotational players available. Included in that stretch is five wins over teams in the top six in the Pac-12 standings. USC's one loss when the entire rotation of players was available was at Arizona, where Arizona is 34-2 in its last 36 home games. Forward Vincent Iwuchukwu missed USC's first 16 games this season and forward guard Joshua Morgan (right ankle) and Reese Dixon-Waters (left foot) missed the 4 games before returning on Feb. 18 vs. Stanford. Both players were injured vs. Washington State on Feb. 2.

THE JOHNSON JUMP -- Sophomore Kobe Johnson is averaging 8.8 points and 4.9 points, while ranking T-15h in the country with 65 steals this season. Last year Johnson averaged 1.2 points and 1.0 rebounds while playing in 27 games. Johnson is also third on the team in assists (74) and fourth in blocks (13). He did not score in double figures in his first 35 career games until scoring a 17 points vs. Oregon State on Dec. 4. He has reached double figures in scoring in 11 of his last 21 games and has averaged 10.1 points in that stretch. His career high for points is 21 scored vs. Washington on Feb. 4. He has recorded 5 or more rebounds 16 times this season. He began the season missing his first 7 three-point attempts, but has made 26 of his last 63 for a 41.3 shooting percentage from beyond the arc in that stretch.

BOOGIE DOWN, BUT NOT FOR LONG - Senior guard Boogie Ellis scored 9 points at Oregon State on Feb. 11, snapping a 14-game streak of scoring in double figures. He then followed up that game with 22 points vs. California on Feb. 16, a career high 33 points vs. Stanford on Feb. 18 and 21 at Colorado on Feb. 23. He has averaged 19.1 points the last 18 games (344 total), including scoring a then-career-high 31 points vs. UCLA on Jan. 26. He began his streak by scoring a then career-best 28 points vs. Auburn on Dec. 18. Ellis leads USC with a 17.2 scoring average and leads the team with 71 three-pointers made and 102 free throws made. He is also second among Trojans with 42 steals. He now has 127 3-pointers made as a Trojan, 17th on USC's all-time list.

FINDING THEIR STROKE -- USC has made 47.5 percent of its shots the last 10 games (266-for-560). USC has also made 7.9 three-pointers per game in that stretch, as opposed to 5.5 makes from beyond the arc the first 19 games.

SCORING ON AN UPTICK -- USC has averaged 82.0 points the last four games (328 total) and has averaged 81.3 points in its last six wins (488 total).

FOUR SCORE... USC has defeated its last four conference foes California (97-60) at home on Feb. 16, Stanford (85-75) at home on Feb. 18, Colorado (84-65) on the road on Feb. 23 and Utah (62-49) on the road on Feb. 25 by a combined 79 points. It is the biggest margin of victory for USC over conference opponents in four consecutive games in a season since defeating UCLA (55-22), California (60-32), California (36-26) and UCLA (43-33) by a combined 81 points from Feb. 15-March 1 during the 1935 season. The last time USC won four consecutive conference games by a double-digit margin was in the 2002 season.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Reese Dixon-Waters

Boogie Ellis

Vincent Iwuchukwu

Kobe Johnson

Joshua Morgan

Drew Peterson