No. 20 Colorado to face test in proven USC
Southern California, one of the surprise teams in the Pac-12 Conference, already has eclipsed last season's 16-win total heading into Saturday's game at the Galen Center in Los Angeles against No. 20 Colorado.
The Trojans (17-4, 6-2 Pac-12) have emerged as one of the conference's top teams, in second place behind Oregon, which is 7-2 in league play, and ahead of the ranked Buffaloes (16-5, 5-3).
"We were right there, but you have to finish," said USC coach Andy Enfield, whose team was 16-17 last year.
USC, 9-1 at home this season, overcame a nine-point second-half deficit to beat Utah 56-52 on Thursday at the Galen Center. Colorado will enter Saturday's contest smarting from a 72-68 defeat against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle said the loss against the struggling Bruins (11-10, 4-4) was "disheartening."
"We can't even think about Pac-12 championships right now. We have to think about winning the next game," said Boyle, whose team is 2/3 on the road this season. "Maybe I was talking about that (Pac-12 title) too much with our guys. I don't know.
"USC is a better team than UCLA is, (but) UCLA deserved to win this game. I don't want to take anything away from them. The tougher team won this game. The tougher team was UCLA. The tougher team will win Saturday. We just have to be that team."
Colorado was outrebounded by the Bruins 39-29 and UCLA had 15 offensive rebounds that led to 18 points.
The Buffaloes only produced eight assists, five from McKinley Wright, to go with 12 turnovers. Wright and Evan Battey led the Buffaloes with 14 points each. Wright struggled from the field, making only 3 of 9 attempts.
USC rallied to beat Utah behind senior forward Nick Rakocevic, who finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season and 27th of his career. He had the game-winning tip-in with 18 seconds remaining after scoring 12 of USC's 23 first-half points.
"My role is to do whatever I can to help my teammates and help us win," Rakocevic said. "Early in the game when we started flat, I knew I had to get us going. I made sure the team got the win, that's what I did today. "We're not fazed by a nine-point (deficit). We're used to coming back. Our motto is toughness. I'm proud of how we stuck together and had each other's back."
The Trojans showed their balance with their other top players also performing well. Onyeka Okongwu had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Elijah Weaver had a game-high 14 points and Jonah Mathews made all eight of his free-throw attempts and finished with 13 points. The Trojans went 14 of 16 from the free-throw line.
USC is winning with its defense. Entering Thursday's game, within the arc, opposing offenses were shooting only 43 percent, which ranked 21st in the nation. Utah was 12 of 34 (35.3 percent) against the Trojans.
"We play very hard," Enfield said. "We're just tough as a group. We're tough mentally, tough physically. We changed some things about how we drill defense this year, and it's helped us. Our players have bought in and we have an identity defensively."
--Field Level Media
