Trojans welcome Bruins for rivalry showdown to cap regular season


Senior guard Jonah Mathews dropped 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting — including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc — in the Trojans’ victory over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion in January. Mathews has led USC in scoring in its past two games. (James Wolfe | Daily Trojan)

The USC men’s basketball team will play its season finale against UCLA at Galen Center Saturday. The Trojans enter the matchup tied for third place in the Pac-12 at 10-7, while the crosstown rival Bruins are tied atop the standings at 12-5, riding a seven-game win streak. 

The Trojans are also playing solid basketball of their own, coming off strong performances against Arizona and Arizona State last week to further strengthen their bid for the NCAA Tournament heading into Saturday’s game.

“We just have to keep defending like we have been,” head coach Andy Enfield said. “We had two good defensive efforts [last] week, holding Arizona to 48 points, Arizona State to 61.”

Apart from the intensity of the historic USC-UCLA rivalry, the stakes are very high for the final regular season game, as it has the potential to heavily alter both teams’ final standings in the Pac-12. The Bruins sit tied with Oregon atop the conference, while the Trojans are in a four-way tie for third place with Arizona State, Colorado and Arizona.

With such a tight race, each game across the conference has enormous implications for Pac-12 seedings ahead of what figures to be a tightly contested tournament in Las Vegas next week. 

“I’m sure that our team, as well as many other teams, are going to have the confidence that they can win as many games as anybody else in Las Vegas,” Enfield said. “I think the league is wide open.”

Coming off a pair of team-high scoring performances — 14 points against Arizona and 23 against Arizona State — senior guard Jonah Mathews emphasized the importance of remaining calm and confident against UCLA.

“Just come out and play my game,” Mathews said of his mindset. “Coach put me in a position to score, I had to take care of the ball, do what I do, get my teammates involved.”

USC is looking to sustain its momentum after recording a pair of critical wins against the Wildcats and Sun Devils. After experiencing a cold stretch during conference play in which they lost five of seven, the Trojans have come alive again.

UCLA is looking to preserve its No. 1 spot in the conference standings, but doing so may be a tall order against a Trojan team with a 13-2 record at home. The Bruins started the season in full sprint with an impressive four-game win streak only to have it come to a crashing halt around the holiday season, going 1-6 from mid-December to mid-January. Since that cold stretch, however, the Bruins have surged back, going 11-2. 

Senior forward Nick Rakocevic has been one of USC’s defensive stalwarts this season and will be key to the Trojans’ efforts Saturday against UCLA. (Amandeep Singh | Daily Trojan)

The last time the two teams met was in Westwood on Jan. 11, when USC came out on top 74-63. Senior forward Nick Rakocevic led the winning effort with a 17-point, 14-rebound outing, adding three blocks. He will be a key player to watch Saturday, especially given his strong double-double performance against Arizona State. 

For the Bruins, getting junior guard Chris Smith rolling early will be crucial. Smith leads his team in scoring this season and is coming off a 17-point outing against Arizona but shot only 33% from the field and committed a team-high four turnovers. Smith also struggled somewhat from the field when the Trojans visited Pauley Pavilion — shooting 5-of-13 for 16 points — but grabbed 10 rebounds. 

USC will also need to keep tabs on sophomore forward Cody Riley. Riley has scored in the double digits in five of the Bruins’ last seven games. He has also averaged 11.9 points per game through UCLA’s win streak, 3 points higher than his season average.

USC will need players like Rakocevic and freshman forward Onyeka Okongwu to show up on the defensive end in order to slow Smith, Riley and all of UCLA’s scorers. 

Though USC’s story for much of the season has been its youth, the Trojans have four seniors on their roster who have seen playing time this year. 

The 12:15 p.m. matchup will be their last game at Galen Center in their USC careers. 

“I’m gonna miss it,” said Rakocevic, who joked that he’s looking to put up at least 20 shots. “I’m gonna miss my teammates, playing here. It’s been the best four years of my life … I might get a little emotional, but that’s just who I am. I’m an emotional type of dude. But at the end of the day, we’re still looking to win. We still gotta win. So that’s our top priority.”

Mathews, who has played in nearly every game since he arrived as a freshman in 2016, echoed Rakocevic’s sentiment. 

“It’s my last game at Galen ever, so it’s a little bittersweet,” Mathews said. “Going into the game, I’m just gonna give my all. Just gotta give everything I have in the tank.”