A pair of Pac-12 teams take to the hardwood in search of a victory here in the City of Angels. The Washington Huskies are on the road as they travel down the west coast as they take on the USC Trojans Thursday night. Washington comes in off an 84-78 road loss to Cal in their previous contest on Saturday. USC edged UC Riverside 67-62 in overtime at home Tuesday night in non-conference action in their last game. The Trojans hold a narrow 68-67 edge in the all-time series between the teams: their 62-56 win at home in the most recent meeting on February 13, 2020 snapped a four-game Washington win streak in the series.
Washington Huskies Struggling to Put Together Complete Performance
Washington dropped their sixth straight game as they wound up on the short end against Cal on the road in their previous contest. The Huskies fell to 1-9 on the season overall and sit 0-5 in Pac-12 play with their lone triumph of the year a home win over Seattle. Against Cal, Washington gave up a 9-0 run spanning both halves to trail 45-32 two minutes into the second half before rallying. The Huskies tied the game on multiple occasions in the second half, the last time at 75 with 2:18 to play, but gave up five unanswered points. They were unable to get even the rest of the way and took the loss. Washington shot 52 percent from the field, including nine of 18 from three-point range, but allowed Cal to shoot 55.4 percent in the contest. Erik Stevenson led the Huskies with 27 points plus five boards in the loss.That's 5 for those of you counting at home.#TougherTogether x @ej_stevenson5
— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) January 9, 2021
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📱 https://t.co/9KeXOgKvAE https://t.co/paT1yZDxgX pic.twitter.com/ntFevjW1rT
The Huskies are averaging 63.3 points per game on the season at this point in time, which puts them just 316th in the nation in scoring offense. Washington is grabbing 32.3 rebounds a night while handing out 9.3 assists a night. The defense has been below average in coach Mike Hopkins’ fourth season as the Huskies are 277th in scoring defense as they allow 74.7 points a night. Quade Green leads the team with 15.5 points plus 3.2 assists per game on the year. He’s the only player averaging in double figures on the year. Nate Roberts, RaeQuan Battle, Nate Pryor, Hameir Wright, Erik Stevenson, Jamal Bey and Riley Sorn all have to be better contributors if Washington is going to have success. The Huskies shoot only 39.4 percent from the floor so far this season. Washington drains 5.8 three-pointers a game while shooting 26.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Huskies are mediocre at the free throw line as they shoot 72.9 percent as a team.
USC Trojans Looking to Maintain Momentum
USC earned their fourth straight victory as they took care of business in a tough challenge with UC Riverside in non-conference play. The Trojans ran their record to 9-2 overall on the year and stand 3-1 in Pac-12 play, leaving them 1.5 games behind UCLA for the top spot in the conference. USC trailed by 11 with 7:56 to play in the first half and was down five at intermission. The Trojans used an 8-1 run to take a 44-39 lead and then went back and forth to end up tied at 53 at the end of regulation. In overtime, USC opened the session with an 8-3 run to take a 61-56 lead and hung on for the victory. The Trojans shot 38.1 percent from the floor, including three of 21 from three-point range, and controlled the boards by a 47-37 margin. Evan Mobley had 20 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks to lead USC in the victory.8 points in OT for Drew P. pic.twitter.com/7xqUtdohue
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 13, 2021
The Trojans average 76.2 points per game on the season, putting them 101st in the nation in scoring offense. USC comes into this one grabbing 41.9 rebounds a night while they dish out 13.7 assists a night. The Trojans are above average on the defensive end of the floor, ranking 39th by allowing 63.5 points per game this season. Evan Mobley leads the Trojans with 16.2 points, nine rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game this season. Drew Peterson chips in 10.4 points plus 5.4 rebounds per game while Tahj Eaddy puts up 12.5points a night. Isaiah Mobley, Noah Baumann, Ethan Anderson, Isaiah White, Chevez Goodwin and Max Agbonkpolo are all averaging double-digit minutes for coach Andy Enfield this season. USC shoots 47.3 percent from the field as a team this season. The Trojans drill 6.2 three-pointers per game while shooting 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. USC is struggling at the line as they shoot only 65.4 percent at the stripe as a team this season.
Team Trends
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The top trends for this contest are:
- Huskies are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 Thursday games
- Huskies are 2-10 ATS in their last 12 road games vs. a team with a winning home record
- Huskies are 2-10 ATS in their last 12 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600
- Trojans are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS loss
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