No. 17 USC Men's Basketball To Host Arizona On Saturday

Feb 19, 2021

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The USC Trojans (18-3, 12-2) will host the Arizona Wildcats (14-8, 8-8) at the Galen Center on Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. The game will air on FOX with Joe Davis and Jim Jackson calling the action. USC has won seven straight and 13 of its last 14 games. The seven-game winning streak is USC's longest since beginning the 2017 season 14-0. USC's 12-2 start to Pac-12 play is its best since also beginning the 1992 season 12-2 in conference play. USC is 18-3 through its first 21 games for the first time since also beginning 18-3 during the 1974 season, when it began 22-3.

FACING ARIZONA -- Arizona (14-8, 8-8) is coming off a 74-60 loss at UCLA on Feb. 18. James Akinjo leads Arizona in scoring with a 14.6 average per game. USC defeated Arizona 87-73 on Jan. 7 in Tucson, Ariz., snapping a 10-game losing streak at Arizona. The last time USC swept the home and home series with the Wildcats was the 1983 season. USC trails in the all-time series with Arizona 45-68*, but has won four of the last five games.
(*1 USC win and 1 Arizona win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 46-69).

USC PULLS AWAY FROM ASU IN THE 2ND HALF -- Evan Mobley had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Isaiah Mobley added 20 points and 12 rebounds in USC's 89-71 victory over Arizona State on Feb. 17 at the Galen Center. Both USC (57.6 percent) and ASU (56.3 percent) lit it up in the first half and the Trojans took a 46-44 lead at the break. The Trojans turned up the defense in the second half, holding the Sun Devils to 32.1 percent and pulled away for the victory. The Mobley brothers scored the first 18 points for USC after the break as the Trojans built a 64-54 lead eight minutes into the second half. ASU got no closer than six points the rest of the way. USC made 51.5 percent of its shots after the break and 54.5 percent for the game. Remy Martin led ASU with 30 points.

ENFIELD WINS 150TH GAME -- USC's 89-71 win over ASU on Feb. 17 was the 150th victory for Andy Enfield as USC's head coach. The win improved Enfield's record to 150-105 in eight seasons as the leader of the Trojans. Enfield's career record as a head coach is 191-133. Enfield has guided the Trojans to their best two-year, three-year, four-year and five-year records. On Feb. 19, Enfield was named to the Naismith Men's Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List.

STINGY ON DEFENSE -- USC allowed ASU to score 71 points in its last game, snapping a streak of seven consecutive games holding its opponent to under 70 points. For the season USC has held 16 of 21 opponents under 70 points this season. USC is allowing its opponents 63.6 points per game which ranks second among Pac-12 schools.

TROJANS "POLL VAULTING" -- USC is ranked No. 17 in this week's AP poll and No. 18 in the Coaches Polls following a road sweep in Washington. Last week USC was ranked No. 20 in both polls, the first time it had been ranked in either poll since Week 5 of the 2017-18 season when it was ranked No. 25 in both.

THE OLD SWITCHEROO -- On Thursday, the Pac-12 announced that USC's game on Feb. 22 would not be against Stanford, but against Oregon. The USC postponed home game with Oregon from Jan. 30 has been rescheduled for Feb. 22 at the Galen Center at 6 p.m. The rescheduled USC home game against Stanford, which had been planned for Feb. 22, will now move to a date to be determined the week of March 1.

OREGON ON DECK -- USC's next game will be vs. Oregon (13-4, 8-3) at the Galen Center on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. The game will air on FS1. It will be the only regular season meeting between the two schools. USC and Oregon were originally scheduled for a game at the Galen Center on Jan. 30, but it was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Ducks' program. Oregon is coming off a 60-56 home win against Colorado on Feb. 18 and has won its last four games. Eugene Omoruyi (17.5 ppg) and Chris Duarte (17.3 ppg) lead the Ducks in scoring. USC lost 77-70 in double overtime at Oregon last season but has won four of its last six meetings with the Ducks. Prior to that, USC had lost 14 consecutive games to Oregon. USC leads the all-time series with Oregon 64*-58.
(*2 wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 66-58).

SCORING MARGIN BEST SINCE 1971 SEASON -- USC has a +12.4 scoring margin which leads Pac-12 teams. It is also USC's biggest average scoring margin in a season since the 1970-71 team went 24-2 and defeated opponents by an averaged of 14.0 points per game.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE -- USC has held its opponents to 38.3 percent shooting this season, best in the Pac-12 and sixth-best in the country. Stanford's 51.9 percent shooting against USC on Feb. 2 was the only time this season a Trojan opponent shot over 50 percent.

MOBLEY EARNS 6TH PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOR -- Evan Mobley was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the week of Feb. 8-14 as he averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.0 blocks and 2.0 assists in the road sweep of the Washington schools. Mobley extended his Pac-12 record with his sixth Freshman of the Week selection.

WINNING WAYS - USC's .857 winning percentage is tied for eighth-best in the country.

ISAIAH MOBLEY DOING DOUBLE-DOUBLE DUTY -- Sophomore forward Isaiah Mobley scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double in the game vs. CBU on Nov. 25. Last season, Mobley was within a basket or a rebound of logging a double-double four times. Mobley then set a new career high with 13 rebounds vs. Montana on Nov. 28. Isaiah Mobley also has double-doubles vs. BYU, at Arizona St., vs. Riverside, at Washington and vs. ASU to give him six for the season. He ranks tied for second among Pac-12 players in that category and third in rebounds with an 7.6 average.

EFFICIENT OFFENSE -- USC is second among Pac-12 teams with an 76.0 scoring average and with a leads with a +12.4 scoring margin. USC also leads all Pac-12 teams with a 47.1 shooting percentage this season.