USC heads up North for Pac-12 clash

The USC men’s basketball team is looking to capitalize on their strong homestand against cross-town rival UCLA and the Washington schools. Saturday’s win against Washington was Head Coach Andy Enfield’s 200th career win at USC, good for fourth all-time in Trojan men’s basketball history. The Trojans are looking ahead in a road trip against Oregon and Oregon State to seal victories No. 201 and 202 for Enfield.

Enfield attributes his success to the coaching staff and players he’s had during his time at USC.

“We’ve had a great staff, long stability in our coaching staff and we’ve also had a lot of really good players and they have developed and done a great job representing USC,” Enfield said in an interview with the Daily Trojan.

The Trojans, now 17-6 and third in the Pac-12, beat the Washington Huskies 80-74 behind career scoring highs from freshman guard Tre White and sophomore guard Kobe Johnson. White torched the Huskies with 22 points and 8 rebounds as Johnson dropped 21 points, going a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

White praises Johnson’s influence on the court.

“[Johnson] makes you want to recover for him and play harder too,” White said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “Once you start to see the results, like I’m starting to play the passing line now too… watching him has been rubbing off on me … it’s crazy to play with him.”

White was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for his performances at home against Wahsington and Washington State. The 6-foot-7-inch first year from Dallas averaged 18 points and 5 rebounds in both home victories this week. This is the second time White has been honored with the recognition this season.

Johnson also commends White regarding his leadership.

“[White] has that confidence already as a freshman, and to see someone of his caliber with that confidence is scary,” Johnson said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I love that he’s playing well and playing his game and hope he continues to do so.”

USC faces an Oregon team on Thursday night that is still alive for an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. The Ducks likely need to win out if they have a chance to dance in March. 

“We just have to match their physicality. We know that they have to win this game to be talked about in the NCAA tournament, so they’re going to come out and play physical, play aggressive, and we just have to be able to match that,” Johnson, the sophomore captain, said.

Oregon is led by a trio of seniors: guard Will Richardson, center N’Faly Dante and guard Jermaine Couisnard. Richardson leads the team in points, assists and steals, averaging 14.0, 5.3 and 1.8 respectively. Dante leads the Ducks in rebounds, averaging 7.4 per game.

“[We] just need to stay sound on our principles; we feel like we can win this game if we stay solid on all cylinders,” White said. “I really feel like it’s an ‘us’ thing … we shoot ourselves in the foot.”

The past couple of seasons, USC’s free throw shooting has been subpar, ranking 10th in the Pac-12 last season at 66.4%. Ironically, Coach Enfield holds the NCAA record for free throw percentage as a player at Johns Hopkins — shooting 92.5% from the line during his tenure. However, some of their success this year has been accredited to their free throw shooting. 

“Yeah, I took over the free throw duties,” Enfield joked. “I finally decided to take that over and teach it.”

The Trojans now rank 2nd in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage, improving to 73.9%. 

USC will face Oregon State Saturday at 3 p.m. The Beavers are 11th in the conference. USC had to overcome an 11 point halftime deficit to win a nail-biting 63-62 game in the teams’ last meeting. In that game, the Beavers were led by junior guard Dexter Akanno, who scored 17 points with 4 rebounds and 6 assists.

In the past 2 seasons, the Trojans have been able to close out tight games, going 13-4 in games decided by 5 points or less. Coach Enfield credits this to poise.

“Our players have stayed poised, offensively and defensively. We have had a lot of close games and I think there’s a maturity about our players in the last few minutes. It’s fun to watch because we know we have a chance to win every one of those games”

White and Johnson look to aid in extending the Trojans’ winning streak at Oregon on Thursday at 8 p.m.