Men's Basketball | February 15, 2019

The USC Trojans (13-12, 6-6) will play at the California Golden Bears (5-19, 0-12) at Haas Pavilion on Feb. 16 at 5 p.m.  USC has lost three consecutive games and is 1-6 on the road this season.

BREAKING DOWN CALIFORNIA - The Golden Bears are coming off a 75-67 overtime loss to UCLA on Feb. 13.  Sophomore Justice Sueing leads California in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg). USC defeated California  82-73 at the Galen Center to open Pac-12 play this season and has won its last three games against the Golden Bears.  California leads the all-time series 136-125 (1 win vacated by USC due to NCAA penalty, original record 136-126).  USC won 80-62 at California last season, snapping a five-game losing streak at Haas Pavilion.

USC FALLS 79-76 AT STANFORD - Stanford scored seven unanswered points in the final 44.2 seconds and defeated USC 79-76 at Maples Pavilion on Feb. 13.  USC led 76-72 when Derryck Thornton was fouled with 59 seconds remaining and missed a pair of free throws.  Stanford's Marcus Sheffield then hit a three-pointer with 44.2 seconds remaining to make it 76-75 USC.  Stanford called a timeout and on the ensuing possession, Nick Rakocevic's pass to Bennie Boatwright was stolen. Bryce Wills then hit a driving layup with 13 seconds remaining to give Stanford a 77-76 lead.  He was fouled by Thornton on the play and missed the accompanying free throw.  USC called a timeout and ran a play for Boatwright who missed a 16-footer on the right side of the free throw line. Wills was fouled and made a pair of free throws to seal it with 1.2 seconds remaining.  Boatwright led USC with a game-high 19 points and Nick Rakocevic had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. USC made 48.1 percent of its shots and Stanford 46.3 percent, including 60 percent in the 2nd half. USC was outscored 48-32 on points in the paint.

OREGON ON DECK - USC's next game will be vs. Oregon (15-9, 6-5) at the Galen Center on Feb. 21 at 6 p.m.  Oregon will play at Oregon State on Feb. 21 before traveling to Los Angeles. Freshman forward Louis King leads the Ducks in scoring with a 12.5 average.  Oregon defeated USC 81-60 in Eugene, Ore. on Jan. 13, snapping USC's three-game winning streak against the Ducks, all last season.  USC leads the all-time series 63-57, which reflect two wins in 2008 vacated due to NCAA penalty (original record, USC leads 65-57).

RAKOCEVIC HAS BEEN DOUBLE TROUBLE - USC forward Nick Rakocevic posted his conference-leading 12th double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds at Stanford on Feb. 13.  He also has five games with 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds, leading all Pac-12 players.  He has scored at least 15 points in 15 games and has at least 8 rebounds in 18 games. Rakocevic is averaging 15.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.  He currently ranks among the Pac-12's top 10 in six categories: rebounds (2nd), blocked shots (5th), scoring average (10th), field goal percentage (9th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (3rd).   

MATHEWS THE MARKSMAN - Junior Jonah Mathews followed up his first game all season without a three-point basket made (0-for-3 vs. Colorado on Feb. 9) by going 3-for-4 from distance at Stanford on Feb. 13.  He now has made at least one three-point basket in 29 of his last 30 games played.  He leads USC with 60 three-point baskets made this season, connecting at a 42.6 percent clip. He has made 39 of 82 three-point attempts (47.6 percent) in the last 14 games.  His 60 makes from beyond the arc are second in the Pac-12.  Mathews now has 160 career three-point baskets made which ranks 11th on USC's all-time list, 3 behind Elias Ayuso who is 10th with 163. Mathews made a season-best 6 three-pointers (out of 7 attempts) at WSU on Feb. 2.  

RECORD-SETTING STRETCH - USC has won 84 games during the last four seasons (2016-19), the most wins in a four-year stretch in school history.  The 2006-09 teams won 85 games, but 21 wins were vacated from the 2008 season due to NCAA penalty.

DOESN'T ADD UP... - USC's 79-76 loss at Stanford in which it was outscored 7-0 in the final 44.2 seconds bucked a lot of trends for the Trojan season.  USC lost for the first time when leading with 5 minutes remaining (12-1), for the second time when it outshoots the opponent (13-2) and when it has as many or more rebounds that the opposition (8-2) and for the third time when scoring first (11-3), leading at the half (11-3) and having four players score in double figures (7-3).

BOATWRIGHT KEEPS RISING UP THE USC SCORING CHARTS - Senior Bennie Boatwright missed the first two games of the season while still coming back from offseason knee surgery, but has averaged a team-leading 17.7 points per game (4th in Pac-12) since his return.  He scored 14 points vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 19 to give him 1,008 career points.  He now has scored 1,384 career points which is 16th on USC's all-time scoring, 18 points behind Elijah Stewart (15th, 1,402)  .  Boatwright has averaged 14.1 points (1,384) in 98 career games played, despite being slowed by injuries.  Boatwright averaged 13.6 points in 23 games last season, first being slowed by a foot injury and then having his season end with a knee injury.  He led USC to the 2017 Diamond Head Classic title by scoring a then career-high 33 points vs. New Mexico State on Dec. 25, making a career-best six three-point baskets.  Boatwright has also made 205 career three-point baskets, 4th on USC's all-time list and 13 behind Brandon Granville (3rd, 218) on USC's all-time list.