No. 19 USC Men's Basketball Looks To Bounce Back At Utah Saturday

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The USC Trojans (19-5, 13-4) will play at the Utah Runnin' Utes (9-11, 6-10) at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. PT.  The game will air on ESPN2 with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton calling the action.  USC has won eight of its last 10 games and 14 of its last 17 games.  USC's 13-4 start to Pac-12 play is its best since finishing 15-3 in conference play during the 1992 season.  USC is 19-5 through its first 24 games, its best record since going 20-4 to start the 2017 season.  

FACING UTAH --  Utah (9-11, 6-10) is coming off a 76-61 home lost against UCLA on Feb. 25 to run its losing streak to four.  The Runnin' Utes are led in scoring by Timmy Allen at 16.8 points per game.  USC defeated Utah 64-46 on Jan. 2 at the Galen Center, but trails in the all-time series 21-25. USC has lost five of its last six games at Utah.

COLORADO BENCH AND THREES BURY TROJANS  -- Colorado jumped on USC early and held the Trojans off with a barrage of three-pointers to cruise to an 80-62 win and a sweep of the season series.  It was also the sixth consecutive win for Colorado over USC.  Colorado's D'Shawn Schwartz' three-pointer 50 seconds into the game gave the Buffaloes the lead for good. Colorado made 12 of 22 three-pointers (54.5 percent) to answer every run by USC.  Jeriah Horne led the way with a career-best six three-pointers made to finish with 24 points.  USC trailed 42-29 at halftime as Colorado finished on a 17-7 run before the break.  USC got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.  Evan Mobley and Tahj Eaddy led USC with 13 points apiece.  Colorado's bench made 8 of 14 three-pointers and finished with 37 points.

HOME ON THE ROAD -- USC is 6-2 in Pac-12 road games so far this season.  The last time USC started 6-2 in conference road games was the 1992 season, when it finished with a 6-3 Pac-10 road record.  The last time USC had a better 8-game start to conference road action was the 1985 season when it began 7-1 and finished 8-1 in Pac-10 road games.

ONE WIN FROM 20 -- USC needs one more win to reach 20 victories for the fifth time in the last six seasons with Andy Enfield as the head coach. USC has had 15 total 20-win seasons in school history. 

ENFIELD ON NAISMITH COACH OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST -- USC head coach Andy Enfield was named to the late season watch list for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award on Feb. 19.  This season he has guided USC to an 19-4 record and to the top of the Pac-12.  USC's win over ASU on Feb. 17 was the 150th victory for Andy Enfield as USC's head coach (151-107) in eight seasons.  Enfield's career record as a head coach is 192-135.  Enfield has guided the Trojans to their best two-year, three-year, four-year and five-year records.  

EVAN ALMIGHTY -- USC freshman Isaiah Mobley, who is averaging 16.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 3.0 blocks, is the only Power 5 conference player to be averaging at least 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 2.0  assists. Mobley was named a Jabbar Award Finalist on Feb. 26 and a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist on Feb. 24.

STINGY ON DEFENSE -- When USC allowed ASU to score 71 points on Feb. 17, it snapped a streak of seven consecutive games holding its opponent to under 70 points. USC also allowed Arizona 81 on Feb. 22 and Colorado 80 on Feb. 25, making it three out of its last four games surrendering 70 or more points.  In between those games, USC held Oregon to 58 points on Feb. 22, the seventh opponent it held under 60 points this season. Overall, USC has held 17 of 24 opponents under 70 points. USC is allowing its opponents 64.8 points per game which ranks second among Pac-12 schools.

STANFORD ON DECK -- USC's next game will be vs. the Stanford Cardinal (14-10, 10-8) at the Galen Center on March 3 at 7:30 p.m.  Stanford is coming off a 71-68 loss vs. Oregon on Feb. 25 and will host Oregon State on Feb. 27 before traveling to L.A.  Four Cardinal players are averaging double figures in scoring led by Oscar da Silva's 18.8 points per game.  USC won 72-66 at Stanford on Feb. 2 to snap a five-game losing streak at Maples Pavilion.  USC is 127*-127 all-time against Stanford, with a win in 2008 vacated due to NCAA penalty (original record 128-127).

FOURTH TIMES THE CHARM -- This is the fourth scheduled date for the USC-Stanford game at the Galen Center this season. The teams were set to play at the Galen Center on Dec. 13 when the contest was postponed the day of the game due to a COVID-19 positive test within the USC program.  The game was rescheduled to Feb. 2 at the Galen Center, but then that was switched to a road game at Stanford and the home date against the Cardinal was set for Feb. 22. That game was switched on Feb. 18 to the current date and USC was assigned a home game against Oregon on Feb. 22.

WINNING WAYS -  USC's .792 winning percentage is tied for 19th-best in the country.

FINAL HOME GAME -- The game againt Stanford on March 3 is the final scheduled home game for the 2020-21 season.  USC will finish the season against current conference leader and rival UCLA on March 6.

THE MAGIC MARK --  With the 72-58 win vs. Oregon on Feb. 22, USC is now 85-5 in its last 90 games when holding the opposition to under 70 points scored dating back to Feb. 28, 2015.