USC Closes Out The Year At Washington Friday

Men’s Basketball | December 28, 2022

The USC Trojans (10-3, 2-0) will take on the Washington Huskies (9-4, 1-1) at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash., on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Dave Feldman and Adrian Branch calling the action. USC is trying to open Pac-12 play 3-0 for the second straight season and just the second time since the 2002 season, when it started 5-0. USC has won six straight games for the first time since February 8-26, 2022.

USC’S STELLAR STRETCH — USC won a school-record 73 games over the past three seasons (22 in 2020, 25 in 2021 and 26 in 2022). The previous school record for wins in three consecutive seasons was 71 (2016-18). The three consecutive 20+ win seasons also ties the school record for most consecutive 20-win seasons set from 2016-18.

WINNING WAYS — USC’s 73 total wins over the previous three seasons tied for third-most among all Power 6 basketball programs, trailing only the last two NCAA champions Kansas (83) and Baylor (81). Also, USC’s 160 wins the previous seven seasons ranked 13th among all Power 6 conference teams.

ENFIELD THAT LEADS — USC head coach Andy Enfield is in his 10th season at USC and has compiled a 193-121 record. His win total ranks fourth on USC’s all-time wins list, trailing only Sam Barry (260), Forrest Twogood (251) and Bob Boyd (216). Including his two seasons as head coach at FGCU (2012-13), Enfield has compiled a 234-149 record.

OPPOSITE WASHINGTON — The Washington Huskies (9-4 1-1) are coming off an 84-61 home loss to Auburn on Dec. 21. Senior forward Keion Brooks Jr. leads the Huskies with an average of 16.6 points. USC leads the all-time series with Washington 77-75* and has won the last five meetings. *(2 USC wins vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 79-75).

WASHINGTON STATE on deck — USC’s will open the new year with a game at Washington State (5-8, 0-2) in Pullman, Wash., on Jan. 1 at noon. The Cougars have lost their last two games and will host UCLA on Dec. 30 before welcoming USC to the Palouse. TJ Bamba leads four Cougars in double figures with a 16.8 average. USC has an 81-48 all-time record against Washington State, including wins in its last 12 games against the Cougars.

BEATEN BY THE BEST — The three teams USC has lost to this season (No. 7 Tennessee, No. 15 Wisconsin and FGCU) have a combined record of 29-7 this season (through Dec. 27 games).

THE MONTH OF JOY — USC is 5-0 this month and has gone 19-2 during the month of December in the last four seasons. USC won all 6 games last December.

IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE — USC held California to 27.7 shooting on Nov. 30, the lowest by an opponent since holding Stanford to 25.4 shooting on March 3, 2021. USC has held 8 of its 13 opponents this season to under 40 percent shooting. USC is holding its opponents to a 38.0 shooting percentage this season, 20th in the nation. Over the last four seasons, USC’s defense has held the opposition to 38.7 FG percentage, third in the nation.

PAC LEADERS — USC is tied for first in regular-season conference wins among Pac-12 teams for the past six seasons (dating back to 2017-18). 62-33 and UCLA which is 62-33. Next would be Oregon at 59-34 and Colorado at 54-40.

USC’S ANNUAL BLOCK PARTY — USC has 73 blocks this season, led by Joshua Morgan 37 blocks. USC is averaging 5.6 blocks per game, 16th in the nation. Morgan’s 37 blocks this season rank fourth in the nation. Morgan had 7 blocks vs. FGCU on Nov. 7, which tied him for fifth on USC’s all-time single game blocks list. He matched that total with 7 blocks at Cal on Nov. 30. His 37 blocks this season are more than the Trojans’ leader in that category during the 2021-22 season (Isaiah Mobley – 29). USC as a team has recorded 544 blocks over the last four seasons which ranks 6th nationally.

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HOLIDAYS, PETERSON IS GIVING FOR ALL — Guard Drew Peterson leads USC and is third among Pac-12 players with 75 assists, which ranks 15th nationally. Peterson is one of two players nationally (Penn State’s Jalen Pickett) to average at least 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game this season. Peterson is averaging 13.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.

JOHNSON SURGING — Second Guard of the Year Kobe Johnson scored a career-high 17 points (first time in double figures), made a career-best 3 three-pointers and tied a career-best 5 steals in comeback win over Oregon State on Dec. 4. He followed up that game with 14 points against CS Fullerton on December 7th, 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists against Long Beach State on December 14th and 10 points, 5 rebounds and a career-best 6 steals against Auburn on December 18th. In the last 5 games he is averaging 11.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.4 steals.

WHEN THEY ARE GOOD… — USC made 9 3-pointers against Colorado State on Dec. 21 and has had four games with at least 9 3-pointers made this season. In those four games, USC made 46.7 percent of its three-pointers (42-for-90), and 25.2 percent of its three-pointers in the other nine games (37-for-147).