No. 24 USC Men's Basketball To Face No. 23 Colorado In Pac-12 Tournament Semifinal

Mar 12, 2021

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The No. 2 seed USC Trojans (22-6, 15-5) will face the No. 3 seed Colorado Buffaloes (21-7, 14-6) in a Pac-12 Semifinal game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. on March 12 at 8:30 p.m. The game will air on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton calling the action. It will also be on Westwood One Radio with Ryan Radtke and P.J. Carlesimo calling the action. USC has won 20 or more games for the fifth time in its last six seasons under Andy Enfield. USC's 22-6 record is its best after 28 games since being 23-5 during the 1992 season.

USC AT PAC-12 TOURNEY - USC defeated Utah 91-85 in double overtime on March 11 to improve to 19*-19 all-time at the Pac-12 Tournament (1 win vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 20-19). USC won the 2009 Pac-12 Tournament. USC has faced Colorado once at the Pac-12 Tournament, falling 59-56 in a first-round game in 2014. Last night's game against Utah was the first Pac-12 Tournament game for every player on USC's roster.

BREAKING DOWN COLORADO -- The Colorado Buffaloes (21-7, 14-6) defeated the California Golden Bears 61-58 in a Pac-12 Quarterfinal game on March 11 to run its winning streak to a season-high five games. Guard McKinley Wright leads three Colorado players in double figures in scoring with a 15.1 average. Colorado swept the regular season series with USC, winning 72-62 in Los Angeles on Dec. 31 and 80-62 in Boulder, Colo. on Feb. 25. Colorado has won the last six meetings against USC and leads the all-time series 7-15.

USC OUTLASTS UTAH IN DOUBLE OT -- Evan Mobley scored 13 of his career-best 26 points in the two overtimes to lead No. 2 seed USC to a 91-85 win over No. 7 seed Utah in a Pac-12 Quarterfinal game on March 11. USC led by as many as 10 points midway through the second half, but a pair of free throws by Ian Martinez 2.3 seconds left tied it at 71 at the end of regulation. USC led by 3 points late in the first overtime, but Alfonso Plummer's 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining tied it at 80. USC's Tahj Eaddy's layup in traffic rimmed out to force a second overtime. Evan Mobley continued to flex his muscles in the second OT outscoring Utah 7-5 and the Trojans pulled away for the 6-point win. There were a combined 55 fouls called which led to 69 free throws, Utah going 25-for-30 and USC making 29-for-39 at the FT line. USC outshot Utah 48.3 percent to 42.3 percent. USC held Utah to 26.7 percent shooting (4-for-15) in the overtime periods. Six Trojans scored in double figures, led by Mobley who also added 9 rebounds and 5 blocks. Isaiah White scored 14, Drew Peterson and Eaddy 13 each, Isaiah Mobley 11 and Ethan Anderson 10. Timmie Allen led Utah with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

MOBLEY'S HISTORIC HAUL OF PAC-12 AWARDS -- Evan Mobley was named the 2020-21 Pac-12 Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year on March 9. He became the first Pac-12 player to win all three awards in a single season and joined Anthony Davis of Kentucky (2011-12) as the only other major conference player to accomplish the feat. Mobley joins Shareef Abdur-Rahim (California, 1996), Kevin Love (UCLA, 2008) and Deandre Ayton (Arizona, 2018) to win the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Awards in the same season. The only player to double as Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year was Gary Payton (Oregon State, 1987). Mobley became USC's fourth conference Player of the Year (Wayne Carlander - 1985, Harold Miner - 1992 and Sam Clancy - 2002). Mobley also becomes USC's second Conference Freshman of the Year, joining Miner who won the award in 1990. Mobley is the third USC player to be selected as the top defensive player in the Pac-12, joining Marcus Simmons (2011) and Taj Gibson (2009).

THE UNICORN -- USC freshman Evan Mobley, who is averaging 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.9 blocks, is the only Division I player to be averaging at least 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 assists.

ENFIELD NAMED PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR -- USC head coach Andy Enfield was named the 2021 John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year recipient as he has guided the Trojans to a 22-6 record and second place in the Pac-12 with a 15-5 record, percentage points behind Oregon (14-4). USC's 22 victories leads all Pac-12 teams and only seven Division I teams have won more games this season through games on March 11. Enfield has guided the Trojans to a 154-108 record in his eight seasons as USC's head coach, the fourth most wins in school history. The Trojans currently ranked No. 24 in the AP poll. Enfield is now five wins away from picking up his 200th career victory, as he is 195-136 in 10 years as a college head coach. Enfield is the first USC head coach to be named the conference's Coach of the Year since George Raveling in 1992. The other Conference Coach of the Year winners were Stan Morrison in 1985 and Bob Boyd in 1979.

MOBLEY AND EADDY NAMED TO PAC-12 ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM -- Evan Mobley was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference first team and Tahj Eaddy was named to the second team on March 9. Eaddy, a graduate transfer from Santa Clara, is second on the team with a 13.8 scoring average and leads the team with 56 three-pointers made. Eaddy's three-point basket with 1.4 seconds remaining on March 6 at UCLA game USC a 64-63 win. Eaddy, who has scored in double figures in 22 of USC's 28 games, also leads the Trojans with a 78.3 shooting percentage from the free throw line and is second on the team with 69 assists.

HOW DOES MOBLEY RANK ON USC's ALL-TIME FRESHMAN TOTALS LISTS? -- Freshman Evan Mobley has already set the USC freshman blocks record with 82, but also ranks among the school's all-time freshman top 10 in points (5th - 460), free throws made (3rd - 118), free throws attempted (T-1st - 167), rebounds (3rd - 240) and field goals (8th - 166).