USC gears up for final regular season tests

USC men’s basketball is preparing for a picturesque postseason push in their final two regular-season games this week against Arizona and Arizona State. In a season filled with ups and downs, the Trojans are hitting their stride at just the right time. They’re currently on a four-game win streak, winning by an average of 19.8 points per game.

“Chemistry is at an all-time high, our offense is flowing, we’re hitting a lot of threes; we’re very cohesive right now,” said fifth-year guard Drew Peterson. “[We’re] hoping to have another good run in the tournament, so we’re locked in.”

Peterson and the Trojans will end their regular season with two games at Galen Center, where they’re nearly perfect on the year. USC is currently on a 14-game winning streak at home, their longest home winning streak since 2016.

But none of that will matter if they can’t get a few more wins down this last-gasp stretch of important games. The Trojans are on the very edge of making it into the NCAA tournament; they have been toting the line of being one of the last four teams in and securing a definite spot in the round of 64. ESPN’s Bracketology currently has USC as a 10-seed right now.

“We hope to finish these two games out, get two dubs here, become second place in the conference and then when we go to the Pac-12 tournament where we get a clean slate,” said sophomore guard Kobe Johnson. “We’ve got to play with that chip on our shoulder, not many people have us in their brackets right now so we’ve got to go out there and prove a point.”

The Trojans may need one more quality win to secure themselves a spot in the tournament, and they have the perfect opportunity on Thursday. USC will face off against the Wildcats for the second time this season, but will hope to play a little closer than they did last time.

In the previous matchup between the two schools, Arizona ran away with the game, winning 81-66. The 81 points USC allowed are tied for the most points they’ve given up in a game all season, thanks in part to the Wildcats’ dominant frontcourt duo.

6-foot-11-inch junior forward Azuolas Tubelis and 7-foot redshirt junior center Oumar Ballo man the middle of this Wildcats team. They are the number one and number two leading rebounders of the Pac-12, but it doesn’t stop there. Tuebelis also leads the Pac-12 in scoring with 19.6 points per game and ranks 34th in the country.

In order to win, USC will have to hinder Tueblis and Ballo in some way. Both players were able to shoot at 50% from the field the last time these two teams played. 

“They both average a lot of points, a lot of rebounds, shot-blocking so they’re very big in the interior,” said Head Coach Andy Enfield when asked about Arizona’s duo. “But they’re two big guys who present challenges because you won’t find two better bigs probably anywhere in the country that are that talented together.”

USC will have to get help from more than just the usual suspects of Peterson and senior guard Boogie Ellis. The Trojans will need extra efforts from some of their younger players that are new to the brighter lights of the conference tournaments and March Madness.

This was a team that came into the year dominated by youth with nine underclassmen on the roster, and many of them will be expected to step up when the moment is the biggest. When asked what he tells his young players when that big movement comes, Enfield’s answer was simple: “This is why you came to USC.”

The Trojans will host Arizona on Thursday at 8 p.m. and close out the regular season against Arizona State Saturday at 8 p.m. at Galen Center.