USC Men's Basketball Hosts No. 5 Arizona On Senior Night Saturday - USC Athletics (2024)

Trojans have won 3 of their last 4 games

John McGillen/USC Athletics

Men's Basketball | March 08, 2024

The USC Trojans (13-17, 7-12) will host the No. 5 Arizona Wildcats (24-6, 15-4) on Senior Night at the Galen Center on March 9 at 7:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN with Dave Pasch and Sean Farnham calling the action. USC is 5-4 in its last nine games with two of the losses coming in overtime and one being a one-possession game. USC has won its last two games and is seeking its first three-game winning streak of the season.

USC'S STELLAR STRETCH -- USC won a school-record 95 games over the previous four seasons (22 in 2020, 25 in 2021, 26 in 2022 and 22 in 2023). The four consecutive seasons of 20+ wins sets a school record for most consecutive 20-win seasons, breaking the mark of three consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins from 2016-18. USC's 95 total wins the last four seasons was tied for sixth-most among all Power 6 basketball programs, trailing only Kansas (111), Baylor (104), Arizona (99), UCLA (99) and Duke (97).

FACING No. 5 ARIZONA -- The Arizona Wildcats (24-6, 15-4) are coming off an 88-65 win at UCLA on March 7 which clinched the 2023-24 Pac-12 regular season title. The Wildcats have won 10 of their last 11 games, outscoring the opposition by 17.4 points per game in that stretch. Guard Caleb Love leads five Arizona players scoring in double figures with a 19.3 average. Arizona defeated USC 82-67 on Jan. 17 in Tucson, Ariz. and has won its last six games against the Trojans. USC is 45-74 all-time against Arizona (1 win and 1 loss vacated due to NCAA penalty, original record 46-75). USC is 8-7 all-time at the Galen Center against Arizona.

ON DECK: PAC-12 TOURNAMENT -- The Trojans will play at the 2024 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament which runs March 13-16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The pairings will not be set until the conclusion of Saturday's action. The games will be carried on the Pac-12 Network or FS1, with the championship game on FOX on March 16.

ENFIELD GRABS 3RD ON USC'S ALL-TIME WINS LIST -- USC head coach Andy Enfield is in his 11th season at USC and has compiled an 218-146 record. Enfield's win total ranks third on USC's all-time wins list, trailing only Sam Barry (260) and Forrest Twogood (251). Including his two seasons as the head coach at FGCU (2012-13), Enfield has compiled a 259-174 record.

THE OFFENSE COMING ALIVE -- USC has averaged 75.7 points (681 total) in its last nine games, after averaging 62.5 points in its previous six games. USC scored 70 or more points in 14 of its first 15 games and averaged 78.9 points per game in that stretch.

MISSING IN ACTION -- USC has had players miss 55 games of action due to injury or illness. Players missing games are Gardner (29), James (8), Collier (6), Ellis (4), Morgan (2), Iwuchukwu (2), Johnson (2), Rodman (1), Page (1). USC has at least one projected starter missing in 10 of its 30 games.

APPARENTLY SHOOTING IS IMPORTANT -- USC is 11-5 in games it outshoots its opponent and 2-12 in games the opponent has a better shooting percentage. USC picked up its second win when being outshot vs. ASU on March 7 (50.0 percent to 45.8 percent).

THE STARTING FIVE -- When USC has started its opening night lineup of Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Collier, Kobe Johnson, DJ Rodman and Joshua Morgan it is 9-4. USC is 6-2 in Pac-12 games with this lineup, with the losses being in OT vs. Colorado and by 3 points at WSU.

KOBE JOHNSON: MAN OF STEAL -- Junior Kobe Johnson has 59 steals this season which ranks second in the conference. He now has 147 career steals which rank 9th on USC's all-time steals list. Johnson had one steal against ASU on March 7, but in the previous four games had 4 steals in each game, the first Trojan with four consecutive games with four steals or more since Jeff Trepagnier during the 1999-2000 season. There have nine instances since the 1996-97 season with a Pac-12 player registering 4 steals or more in four consecutive games, last by Matisse Thybulle of Washington in 2019. The last Major Conference player with 4 or more steals in five consecutive games was Chris Paul of Wake Forest in the 2003-04 season (8 straight).

BIG GAME BOOGIE -- Guard Boogie Ellis' has averaged 21.1 points in his last 8 games against ranked teams. He scored 21 points vs. No. 22 Tennessee on Nov. 24,2022, 28 vs. No. 19/18 Auburn on Dec. 18, 2022, 10 at No. 10/8 UCLA on Jan. 5, 2023, 11 at Arizona on Jan. 19, 2023, 31 vs. No. 8 UCLA on Jan. 26, 2023, a career-high 35 vs. No. 8/9 Arizona on March 2, 2023, 28 vs. No. 11 Gonzaga on Dec. 2, 2023 and then 5 at No. 19 Washington State on Feb. 29, 2024.