USC Takes On Colorado At Galen Saturday

The USC Trojans (10-15, 4-10) will host the Colorado Buffaloes (16-9, 7-7) at the Galen Center on Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Sean Farnham calling the action. USC has won its last two home games and has not won three consecutive home games this season.

FACING COLORADO -- The Colorado Buffaloes (16-9, 7-7) are coming off a 64-60 loss at UCLA on Feb. 15. Guard KJ Simpson leads five Buffaloes scoring in double-figures with a 18.8 points per game average. USC lost 68-58 at Colorado on Jan. 13 with starters Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Collier & Joshua Morgan unavailable, a game it led by 13 at halftime. USC is 10-17 all-time against Colorado.

ON DECK: AT UCLA -- The UCLA Bruins (14-11, 9-5) are coming off a 64-60 home win over Colorado on Feb. 15 and will entertain Utah on Feb. 18 at Pauley Pavilion before hosting USC on Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. UCLA is led in scoring by freshman guard Sebastian Mack (13.5 ppg). UCLA and USC met at the Galen Center on Jan. 27 with both teams having an 8-11 record. UCLA won that game 65-50 to begin a six-game winning streak, while USC is 2-4 in that stretch. USC has a 115-147 record all-time against UCLA (1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record
116-147). USC is 6-4 in its last 10 games against UCLA.

ENFIELD CLOSING IN ON 3RD ON USC'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST -- USC head coach Andy Enfield is in his 11th season at USC and has compiled an 215-144 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 256-172 record.

ON THE DEFENSE-- USC held Utah to 36.7 percent shooting on Feb. 15 and has held its opponents to under 37.0 percent shooting in 4 of the last 6 games. USC held the opposition to under 37.0 percent shooting in 3 of its first 19 games. On Dec. 30, USC allowed Oregon St. to make 59.6 percent of its shots, 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 seven times in the last two seasons, including five times this season. This season, USC has held its opponents to 42.8 percent shooting, fifth in the conference. 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.

WHEN YOU SHARE THE BALL, THE TEAMS WILL FALL -- USC had 20 assists in its win over Utah on Feb. 15 and improved to 23-2 in games it has 20 or more assists since the start of the 2019-20 season. Both of the losses were this season to Oregon on Dec. 28 and Feb. 1.

NEAR THE TOP OF THE PAC -- The Trojans have a 58-34 record in Pac-12 games the last five seasons and are also the only school to finish in the top three of the conference in each of the last four seasons. USC's win total in Pac-12 games in that stretch is tied for third, behind UCLA's 67 and Arizona's 63.

THE OFFENSE COMING ALIVE -- USC has averaged 73.8 in its last four games, after averaging 62.5 points in its previous six games. USC scored 70 or more points in 14 of its first 15 games and averaged 78.9 points per game in that stretch.

MISSING IN ACTION -- USC has had players miss 49 games of action due to injury or illness. Players missing games are Gardner (24), James (8), Collier (6), Ellis (4), Morgan (2), Iwuchukwu (2), Johnson (2), Rodman (1). USC has at least one projected starter missing in 10 of its 25 games. USC is 6-2 with its opening night starters of Collier, Ellis, Johnson, Rodman & Morgan.

BLOCK AROUND THE CLOCK -- USC registered 14 blocks vs. Oregon on Feb. 1 to tie the school record for blocks in a single game. USC also had 14 blocks vs. Pepperdine on Dec. 11, 2016. Josh Morgan (4) and Arrinten Page (4) became the first Trojan teammates to record 4 or more blocks in the same game since Alex Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic each had 4 blocks vs. Northern Arizona on Dec. 11, 2010. USC has 47 blocks in its last six games (7.8 blocks per game) and it has 133 blocks this season, tops among Pac-12 teams.

APPARENTLY SHOOTING IS IMPORTANT -- USC is 9-4 in games it outshoots its opponent and 1-11 in games the opponent has a better shooting percentage.

A POINT OF COMPARISON – USC freshman guard Isaiah Collier returned from injury to post 53 points in three games (17.7 ppg). Through his first 19 games (18 starts) he compares well with recent freshman point guard standout Jordan McLaughlin, now with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

                                    G-GS Min/G PPG FG%    3PT% FT% REB/G A/G TO/G STL/G
Isaiah Collier    19-18 28.7 15.7 .486 .309 .667 2.8     4.1 3.4 1.4
Jordan McLauglin         19-18 31.7    11.6 .338 .256 .651 2.9 4.6 2.2 1.5

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Players Mentioned

Isaiah Collier

Boogie Ellis

Joshua Morgan

Arrinten Page