USC Men's Basketball Continues Road Trip At California Saturday

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The USC Trojans (11-3, 5-2) will play at the California Golden Bears (7-9, 2-7) at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. on Jan. 23 at 5 p.m.  The game will air on the Pac-12 Network with Roxy Bernstein and Ben Braun calling the action. USC had a six-game winning streak snapped in its last outing, a 58-56 loss at Oregon State on Jan. 19.  USC's game at Stanford on Jan. 21 was postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test in the USC program, which following multiple additional tests was determined to be a false positive.  The game will be rescheduled.

FACING CALIFORNIA -- The California Golden Bears (7-9, 2-7) are coming off a 61-57 home loss to No. 24 UCLA on Jan. 21. Junior guard Matt Bradley leads the Bears in scoring with a 17.8 average, but has not played in California's last five games. USC won the only meeting between the schools last season at the Galen Center (88-56) and has won its last five games against California.  USC has won its last two games at Haas Pavilion, but had lost eight of its previous nine in Berkeley prior to that.  USC trails in the all-time series against California 127*-136 (*1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 128-136).

USC WIN STREAK SNAPPED AT OREGON STATE  -- USC overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to tie the game with 3:41 remaining only to go scoreless the final 2:19 in a 58-56 loss at Oregon State at Gill Coliseum on Jan. 19.  The loss snapped USC's six-game winning streak.USC jumped out to an 8-0 lead three minutes into the game, but went cold the rest of the half, scoring only 15 points to trail 31-23 at halftime.  USC made 36 percent of its shots in the first half, going 0-for-9 from three-point range and committing eight turnovers. USC made 47.8 percent of its shots in the second half, including 54.5 percent from three-point range, but could only tie the game, first at 54 on three-pointer from Ethan Anderson and then at 56-all on a dunk by Evan Mobley with 2:19 remaining.  USC had three misses and a turnover to closeout the game.  Rodrigue Andela made a pair of FTs with 1:49 remaining for the win. USC made only 55.6 percent of its free throws, missing eight shots from the charity stripe. Evan Mobley led USC with 12 points and 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY -- USC will be playing its 10th game in the last 26 days, even with the postponement of the game on Jan. 21 at Stanford.  

OSU ON DECK AGAIN-- USC will be hosting Oregon State (7-5, 3-3) at the Galen Center on Jan. 28 at 2:00 p.m.  OSU will play at Oregon on Jan. 23 before traveling to USC.  The Beavers defeated USC 58-56 on Jan. 19 which snapped a Trojan 6-game winning streak.  OSU has won its last two games by a total of 3 points.  Ethan Thompson leads OSU in scoring with a 15.8 average.  USC leads the all-time series 74*-66 (2 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 76-66).  

WELL, THAT WAS DIFFERENT --  With the 58-56 loss at Oregon State on Jan. 19, USC is now 78-5 in its last 83 games when holding the opposition to under 70 points scored dating back to Feb. 28, 2015.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE -- USC has held its opponents to 37.3 percent shooting this season, sixth-best in the country. USC's opponents have shot over 40 percent from the field five times in the first 14 games, with the highest shooting percentage being 49.1 percent by Washington State on Jan. 16.  USC's last two opponents, however, have combined to make 45.7 percent of its shots (48-for-105), including 36.8 percent from three-point range (14-for-38).

THE SULTANS OF SWAT -- USC has had 81 blocks in its first 14 games for an average of 5.8 blocks per game, ninth in the country.  Freshman Evan Mobley is averaging 3.0 blocks per game, tied for ninth in the country and third among freshmen. Mobley already ranks fifth on USC's all-time freshman blocks list (42).

THE GOOD AND THE BAD -- The good news is USC ranks tied for 11th in the country with 338 free throw attempts. The bad news is it has made 217 of those shots for a 64.2 shooting percentage from the charity stripe, ranks 305th in the country (out of 340 teams).

OWNING THE PAINT -- USC has outrebounded its opponents 575-466 through the first 14 games and has outscored the opposition 496-332 on points scored in the paint.

GAME TIME SET FOR OREGON STATE REMATCH -- The USC-Oregon State game on Jan. 28 at the Galen Center has been set for a 2 p.m. start.  The game will air on ESPNU.

LIKE NIGHT AND DAY --  In its 11 wins, USC is shooting 49.2 percent from the floor (323-for-656) and in its three losses is shooting 38.5 percent (62-for-161).  USC has also outrebounded or had the same amount of boards as the opposition in all 11 of the wins (116 more total rebounds) and was outrebounded in two of its three losses.  USC has a total of 29 assists in its three losses.  

MOBLEY NAMED TO MIDSEASON WOODEN AWARD WATCH LIST -- USC freshman forward Evan Mobley was named to the 25-man Wooden Award Midseason Watch List for the top men's collegiate basketball player. Mobley is one of four freshmen on the list.