USC To Face Washington In Pac-12 Tournament First Round

The No. 9 seed USC Trojans (14-17, 8-12) will face the No. 8 seed Washington Huskies (17-14, 9-11) in the first round of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. on March 13 at noon. The game will air on the Pac-12 Network with Roxy Bernstein and Matt Muehlebach calling the action and Elise Woodward providing sideline reports. USC has won its last three games, its longest winning streak of the season. USC has also won 4 of its last 5 games and is 6-4 in its last 10 games with two of the losses coming in overtime and one being a one-possession game.

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).

USC AT THE PAC-12 TOURNAMENT -- USC is 20-22 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament (1 win in 2008 vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 21-22). USC lost in the quarterfinals to ASU last season, snapping a steak of 7 consecutive wins in its first game of the tournament. USC has reached the tournament final five times, winning the conference postseason tournament title in 2009. USC is 2-1 all-time against Washington at the Pac-12 Tournament.

FACING WASHINGTON -- The Washington Huskies (17-14, 9-11) are coming off a 74-68 win at Washington State on March 7. On March 8, Washington announced that it was going to have a leadership change in its program and that it would part ways with head coach Mike Hopkins at the conclusion of the season. Forward Keion Brooks Jr. leads all Pac-12 players with a 21.3 scoring average and the Huskies are second among Pac-12 teams with an 80.8 scoring average. USC defeated Washington 82-75 in Seattle, Wash. on March 2, the only meeting this season between the teams, and has won its last eight games against the Huskies. USC is 80-75 all-time against Washington (2 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 82-75).

ON DECK: No. 6 ARIZONA -- The No. 1 seed Arizona Wildcats (24-7, 15-5) won the 2023-24 Pac-12 regular season title. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 12 games and lead the Pac-12 with an 89.5 scoring average. Guard Caleb Love leads five Arizona players scoring in double figures with an 18.7 average. Arizona defeated USC 82-67 on Jan. 17 in Tucson, Ariz., then USC defeated then No. 5 Arizona 78-65 on March 9 to snap its six-game winning streak against the Trojans. The win was USC's first over an AP Top 5 team since 2008. USC is 46-74 all-time against Arizona (1 win and 1 loss vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 47-75).

ENFIELD 3RD ON USC'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST -- USC head coach Andy Enfield is in his 11th season at USC and has compiled an 219-146 record. Enfield's win total ranks third on USC's all-time wins list, trailing only Sam Barry (260) and Forrest Twogood (251). Including his two seasons as the head coach at FGCU (2012-13), Enfield has compiled a 260-174 record.

THE OFFENSE COMING ALIVE -- USC has averaged 75.9 points (759 total) in its last 10 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 57 games of action due to injury or illness. Players missing games are Gardner (30), James (8), Collier (6), Ellis (4), Morgan (2), Iwuchukwu (2), Johnson (2), Page (2), Rodman (1). USC has at least one projected starter missing in 10 of its 31 games.

APPARENTLY SHOOTING IS IMPORTANT -- USC is 12-5 in games it outshoots its opponent and 2-12 in games the opponent has a better shooting percentage. USC picked up its second win when being outshot vs. ASU on March 7 (50.0 percent to 45.8 percent).

THE STARTING FIVE -- When USC has started its opening night lineup of Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Collier, Kobe Johnson, DJ Rodman and Joshua Morgan it is 10-4. USC is 7-2 in Pac-12 games with this lineup, with the losses being in OT vs. Colorado and by 3 points at WSU.

COLLIER RISING UP USC'S ALL-TIME FRESHMAN CHARTS -- USC's Isaiah Collier is having one of the better freshman seasons in school history. The point guard has scored 414 points (9th on USC's all-time freshman list), averaged 16.6 points per game (5th all-time, highest since O.J. Mayo in 2008-20.7- whose participation later vacated due to NCAA penalty, so highest since Harold Miner in 1990-20.6). He also has 144 field goals (10th), 101 free throws made (7th), 149 FT attempts (5th) and 105 assists (10th).

KOBE JOHNSON: MAN OF STEAL -- Junior Kobe Johnson has 65 steals this season which ranks second in the conference. He now has 153 career steals which rank 8th on USC's all-time steals list. Johnson had one steal against ASU on March 7, but in the previous four games had 4 steals in each game, the first Trojan with four consecutive games with four steals or more since Jeff Trepagnier during the 1999-2000 season. There have nine instances since the 1996-97 season with a Pac-12 player registering 4 steals or more in four consecutive games, last by Matisse Thybulle of Washington in 2019. Johnson has 23 steals in his last 6 games.

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Players Mentioned

Isaiah Collier

Boogie Ellis

Kobe Johnson

Joshua Morgan

DJ Rodman