USC Men's Basketball Hosts Rival UCLA At Galen Saturday

The USC Trojans (8-11, 2-6) will host the UCLA Bruins (8-11, 3-5) at the Galen Center on Jan. 27 at 5:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Bill Walton calling the action. USC's eight wins through its first 19 games are its fewest since also being 8-11 to start the 2012-13 season. USC has lost a season-high four consecutive games. The last time USC lost four consecutive games was Feb. 23-March 9, 2019.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD -- From Dec. 17-Jan. 20, USC played 7 of its 10 games on the road and went 3-7 in that stretch. Through games of Jan. 23, USC has played seven road games and four neutral site contests. The 11 games away from home (4 neutral, 7 road) leads all Power 6 schools and its seven true road games trail only Creighton's eight.

USC'S STELLAR STRETCH -- USC won a school-record 95 games over the previous four seasons (22 in 2020, 25 in 2021, 26 in 2022 and 22 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. USC's 95 total wins the last four seasons was tied for sixth-most among all Power 6 basketball programs, trailing only Kansas (111), Baylor (104), Arizona (99), UCLA (99) and Duke (97).

FACING RIVAL UCLA -- The UCLA Bruins (8-11, 3-5) are coming off a 77-71 loss at Arizona on Jan. 20. Freshman guard Sebastian Mack leads UCLA with a 13.9 scoring average. USC has a 115-146 record all-time against UCLA (1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 116-146). USC has won six of its last nine games with UCLA, including five consecutive wins against the Bruins at the Galen Center.

ON DECK: OREGON AT GALEN -- The Oregon Ducks (13-5, 5-2) are coming off an 80-77 loss at Utah on Jan. 21 and will host Arizona State (Jan. 25) and Arizona (Jan. 27) before traveling to L.A. to face USC on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Jermaine Couisnard leads five Ducks scoring in double figures with a 14.4 scoring average. USC fell 82-74 at Oregon on Dec. 28 and is 67-61 all-time against the Ducks. USC has won 7 of its last 12 games against Oregon and is 3-1 in the last four games against Oregon at the Galen Center.

TROJANS BUYERS, NOT SELLERS -- USC sophomore guard Oziyah Sellers' stock continues to rise. He scored a career-high 18 points scored at Colorado on Jan. 13 and added 10 points at Arizona on Jan. 17. He has scored in double-figures four times this season and is averaging 6.1 points per game, after averaging 1.1 ppg last season. Sellers has made 14 of his last 27 three-point shots (51.9 percent) and leads USC with an 81.3 shooting percentage from the free throw line.

ENFIELD MOVING UP THE USC ALL-TIME COACHING WINS LIST -- USC head coach Andy Enfield is in his 11th season at USC and has compiled an 213-140 record. He picked up his 200th win on Feb. 4, 2023 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 254-168 record.

IN THEIR DEFENSE-- As USC's available players continues to rotate, the defense has struggled to find its footing. However, in the last two games (at Arizona & at ASU), USC held its opponents to a combined 41.4 percent shooting (58-for-140), a lower shooting percentage than all but one of its previous 12 games (32.9 percent at Alabama St. on Dec. 19). USC allowed Oregon St. to make 59.6 percent of its shots on Dec. 30, the highest shooting percentage by a Trojan opponent since UW made 67.3 percent of its FGs against USC on Dec. 29, 2017. USC opponents have shot 50 percent or higher from the field six times in the last two seasons, including four times this season. This season, USC has held its opponents to 43.4 percent shooting. USC held its opponents to a 39.3 shooting percentage last season, 8th in the country. Over the last four seasons, USC's defense held the opposition to 38.9 FG percentage, third in the country, tops among teams in the six basketball power conferences. Also over the previous four seasons, USC held the opposition to a 42.4 shooting percentage on 2-point field goals, best in the country.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR VINCENT -- USC forward Vincent Iwuchukwu had 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at Arizona State on Jan. 20 for his first career double-double. Iwuchukwu has averaged 10 points and 8.7 rebounds the last three games.

BACKCOURT VIOLATION -- With USC's starting backcourt of Boogie Ellis (18.7 ppg) and Isaiah Collier (15.4 ppg) out the last three games, USC has averaged 64.0 points after averaging 77.9 points per game in the first 16 games. Also, USC has averaged 18.3 turnovers in the last three games, after averaging 13.1 in the first 16 games.

MISSING IN ACTION -- USC has now had players miss 40 games of action due to injury or illness. To date players missing games are Gardner (18), James (8), Ellis (4), Collier (3), Morgan (2), Iwuchukwu (2), Johnson (2), Rodman (1). USC has at least one projected starter missing in seven of its 19 games. In the last three games, of USC's 15 starting assignments (5 per game), USC has had 53.3 percent of its starters available (8 of 15).

WELL, THAT WAS ODD -- USC had back-to-back 82-67 losses on the road trip to Arizona (Jan. 17) and Arizona State (1/20). It had been 584 games since USC last played an 82-67 game, falling to California in the conference tournament on March 9, 2006.

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Players Mentioned

Isaiah Collier

Boogie Ellis

Vincent Iwuchukwu

Oziyah Sellers