USC aims for revenge in Crosstown Rivalry

In addition to both hailing from the Los Angeles area, there will be many similarities between the No. 8 UCLA and USC basketball teams when they play each other this Thursday at Galen Center.

USC has two star veteran guards in senior Boogie Ellis, who leads the Trojans with 15.6 PPG, and fifth-year Drew Peterson, who leads USC with 6.6 RPG and 4.75 APG.

UCLA also has two star veteran guards in redshirt senior Tyger Campbell, who leads the Bruins with 4.6 APG, and senior Jaime Jaquez Jr., who leads the Bruins with 16.1 PPG and 7.2 RPG.

Both teams primarily feature a starting lineup of four guards and one forward, as well. 

“I think both teams match up with each other pretty well,” said Head Coach Andy Enfield in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I think it’ll be a very close game as it always is with UCLA.”

With all of these similarities, USC will look for a difference maker on Thursday night to get the job done against the Bruins.

Sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters could be that for the Trojans.

In the crushing 60-58 loss to the Bruins on Jan. 5, Dixon-Waters scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to bring USC back from an 18-point halftime deficit. His jumper with 36 seconds left in the game even put the Trojans up 58-56, but the Bruins hit a 3-pointer and one free throw in the remaining time to secure the win.

“Reese has had a very good few weeks,” Enfield said. “He’s really improving as a player. We rely on him a lot, and he plays starter’s minutes every game, even though he’s coming off the bench as our sixth man.”

Freshman forward Vincent Iwuchukwu might also make his case to be the difference maker for the Trojans. Iwuchukwu did not play in the first game against UCLA, but he has since made his season debut, playing five minutes in USC’s game against Colorado on Jan. 12. He has now played in four games, with his best performance coming against ASU this past weekend when he scored 12 points and secured five rebounds.

“[Iwuchukwu] is starting to get the flow of our offense and he’s picking up the defensive assignments,” Enfield said. “He’s playing great.”

Enfield emphasized one individual performance would not be enough against UCLA, and the entire team would have to play well if they want to walk out of Galen Center with the win.

“We need everybody to step up,” Enfield said.

Since this is the Crosstown Showdown, the difference maker will likely not come down to a single player’s performance. Home field has truly been an advantage for the Trojans in this rivalry, as USC has won four straight against the Bruins in the Galen Center and nine straight at Galen Center overall. 

“The home court advantage means a lot,” Enfield said. “We played there two and a half weeks ago, Pauley Pavilion was sold out and I think every team appreciates a home court advantage.”

Similar to the 14,688 person crowd at the Arizona game this past weekend, this game will surely bring thousands of fans to Galen Center like this rivalry has a history of doing. USC has a young team of nine freshmen and sophomores who do not have a lot of history playing in big crowds. 

Even though this will be a home crowd for USC, leaders on the team have taken their time to mentor the young players to play in front of a raucous crowd.

“The beginning of the last UCLA game, we came out a little slow,” said Peterson in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I think there were definitely a bunch of ‘freshman mistakes,’ not only for the freshman, but across the board. I think we’re going to use that; we watched a lot of film and we’ve talked a lot about the things we messed up in the last game.”

Although the players know every game is important, Peterson admitted that the first game against UCLA and this upcoming one against their rival means just a bit more for the team.

“I’d like to say it’s another game,” Peterson said. “But obviously it’s more than that with it being a rivalry, so we’re really excited and we’re going to have even more pep in our step come Thursday.”

USC faces a tall task against the No. 8 Bruins. Between now and the final buzzer on Thursday night, USC will need to find their difference maker, whether it be a player or their home court, to tip the scales against a ranked opponent.

The Trojans will take on UCLA at Genter Center Thursday at 6 p.m.