USC Men's Basketball To Host Stanford At Galen On Saturday

The USC Trojans (7-7, 1-2) will host the Stanford Cardinal (7-6, 2-1) at the Galen Center on Jan. 6 at 1:00 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network with Ted Robinson and Bill Walton calling the action. USC is 1-2 to start Pac-12 play for the first time since also starting 1-2 in the 2015 season.

GLAD TO BE AT GALEN -- USC's home game against California on Jan 3 was its first game at the Galen Center since Dec. 10 vs. Long Beach. USC had played just two home games in the previous 44 days, while playing three neutral site and four road games. USC also played only five home games in its first 13 games for the first time since also playing just five home games in the first 13 games of the 2005 season. USC, ASU and Villanova werre the only three Power 6 teams to play only 5 home games through Jan. 2.

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 STANFORD -- Stanford (7-6, 2-1) is coming off a 59-53 win at UCLA on Jan. 3 and a 100-82 home win over Arizona on Dec. 31 in which it made a school-record 16 three-point baskets. Freshman guard Kanaan Carlyle has played in five games and leads Stanford with a 14.0 scoring average. Seven Stanford players are averaging 8.8 points or more. USC has a 129*-129 record all-time against Stanford (1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 130-129). USC defeated Stanford 85-75 at home in the only meeting between the two schools last season and has won 6 of its last 7 games at the Galen Center against Stanford.

ON DECK: WASHINGTON STATE -- The Washington State Cougars (10-4, 1-2) will host Oregon on Jan. 6, before traveling to Los Angeles to face USC at the Galen Center on Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Forward Isaac Jones (14.4 ppg) and guard Myles Rice (14.1 ppg) lead Washington State in scoring. USC is 82-49 all-time against Washington State. The teams split a pair of games last year, with USC winning 80-70 at home and falling 81-71 in Pullman. USC has won its last seven games against the Cougars at the Galen Center.

SEEKING WHISTLE-FREE ENVIRONMENT -- After being called for 109 fouls in its previous five games (21.8 per game), USC matched a season low with 10 fouls vs. California on Jan. 3. Still, in the last six games USC has been called for 119 fouls and its opponents have outshot the Trojans 153-120 from the free throw line and outscored them 114-83 from the charity stripe.

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 212-136 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 253-164 record.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE -- USC allowed Oregon State to make 59.6 percent of its shots on Dec. 30, the highest shooting percentage by a Trojan opponent since Washington made 67.3 percent of its field goals against USC on Dec. 29, 2017. It was just the fifth game in the last two seasons an opponent has made 50 percent or more of its field goals against the Trojan defense. Through the first 14 games this season, USC has held its opponents to 42.9 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.

ELLIS SHOOTING TOWARDS THE TOP - Fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis was held to two points a Alabama State on Dec. 19 as he left the game with a left hip contusion and scored 11 points at Oregon on Dec. 28, but still has averaged 18.5 points. He is tied for 17th in the country with 3.23 makes from three-point range per game, netting a career-high 8 vs. Eastern Washington on Nov. 29. The 8 three-pointers made tied him for fourth on USC's all-time list for three-pointers made in a game. He has made 42 of 97 three-point shots this season (43.3 percent). Ellis has made 181 three-point baskets as a Trojan, eighth on USC's all-time three-point baskets made list. Jordan McLaughlin (2015-18) is seventh on the list with 185 three-pointers made.

IT MAKES SENSE... -- The following is a break down of the Trojans in its seven wins vs. its seven losses this season.

                PPG     PPGA     FG%     3-PT%     FT%     FG Def     REB     Assist     TO
7 Wins:     83.7 67.4 49.4 40.7 74.8 38.5 38.7 127 92
7 Losses: 72.0 82.0 42.6 30.1 68.6 47.8 33.9 94 104

TURN THE PAGE -- USC opened January with a win after going 1-5 in the month of December. USC had won all 12 of its December games the previous two seasons. The 5 losses in December were USC's most in that month since 2013 (2-5). SInce then, USC had gone 34-5 in the Decembers before last month.

QUIRKY STAT -- Two of USC's last three games have finished with an 82-74 score (loss at Oregon on Dec. 28 and win vs. California on Jan. 3). USC had played nearly 7 seasons since the last time it played a game with that score, an 82-74 win at Washington on Feb. 1, 2017. There were 224 games and 2521 days between the last USC 82-74 game in 2017 and the one at Oregon on Dec. 28, 2023, then another one two games (6 days) later.

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Players Mentioned

Boogie Ellis