Men’s basketball preps for UCLA


Junior guard Jonah Mathews has been a crucial piece for the Trojans this season. He ranks third on the team in both points (349) and assists (62), and provides floor spacing with his 40.4 percent mark from three. (Josh Dunst/Daily Trojan)

With only three games remaining in conference play, the USC men’s basketball team finds itself in the middle of the Pac-12 standings as it looks to complete its first regular season sweep of UCLA since the 2015-16 season.

“We haven’t swept them in awhile, so to go there and get a sweep would be huge for not just us but the school in general because it’s a rivalry game,” junior guard Jonah Mathews said.

In its first matchup, USC defended homecourt and defeated UCLA by 13 points. The Trojans hope to produce a similar result when they step into Pauley Pavilion, where the Bruins are 12-5 on the season.

The Bruins enter the bout with a two-game win streak, having beaten Oregon and Oregon State by a slim margin of a combined 8 points at home. They were successful in those games in large part due to the play of their backcourt, which has carried the Bruins for much of the season. Sophomore guards Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes combined for 69 of UCLA’s 158 points in the team’s most recent victories and are the team’s leading scorers at 13.5 and 17.2 points per game, respectively.

USC managed to stop the high-powered backcourt in their first matchup, forcing Hands to commit six turnovers and holding Wilkes to 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting. 

“[Hands and Wilkes] are both good players, so you can only do so much,” Mathews said. “But we’re going to try to make it hard for them.”

The game will feature two of the Pac-12’s leading scorers in Wilkes and USC senior forward Bennie Boatwright. Boatwright scored 21 points in the first matchup and outperformed Wilkes throughout the night. All signs point to Boatwright displaying another dominant scoring output, as he has averaged 22.6 points through the Trojans’ last five games.

However, Boatwright’s success hasn’t carried over throughout the rest of the team.

Nearing the end of an inconsistent season, the Trojans are coming off one of their worst stretches as a team, suffering defeat in four of their last six contests and failing to bring a consistent product to the floor on a nightly basis. Following a dominant 66-49 victory over Oregon in which they stifled the Ducks all night, the Trojans let their last home game of the season slip away in a 67-62 loss to Oregon State. 

Even with the team’s recent lack of production, the Trojans still have their eyes set on their ultimate goal — making the NCAA tournament. USC is currently tied for fifth place with UCLA in the Pac-12 standings and one game out of fourth place, putting them just a strong effort away from securing a crucial first-round bye in the conference tournament.

“To finish in the top-four in the Pac-12 would be huge for us,” Mathews said. “With all the ups and downs we’ve been through, [it] would prove to everyone we’re still a contender and we can do it.”

The Trojans will tip off 6 p.m. against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.