No. 15 USC seeks revenge against Stanford
No. 15 men’s basketball team will face Stanford at home Thursday at 8 p.m. The Trojans will look to take down the team that handed them their first loss of the season two weeks ago.
USC has won their previous three games, with their most recent victory Monday against Arizona State. The Trojans looked dominant in their 47-point second half despite a slow start.
Senior guard Drew Peterson led the team with 16 points and junior forward Max Agbonkpolo continued his hot streak with 12 points and 6 rebounds in just 16 minutes of play. Agbonkpolo has averaged 10 points per game in 18 minutes per game over the last three contests.
“Everyone’s really excited to play Stanford again,” Agbonkpolo said. “It was our first loss this year to them, so we’re ready to give it back to them.”
USC announced that fans would be allowed at home games once again as classes returned to in-person Monday Jan. 24. Agbonkpolo, who has started roughly half of USC’s games, said fans returning to Galen Center will boost the Trojans.
“The fans definitely help a lot,” Agbonkpolo said. “The only games we lost were two without fans, which is funny to me … The fans being [there] tomorrow, you’re going to see a different team tomorrow for sure.”
USC’s defense allowed Stanford to score 75 points in their last meeting. The Cardinal led in scoring by freshman forward Harrison Ingram and junior forward Spencer Jones, who each had 21 points.
“Our defense has been much, much better in the last three games,” USC Head Coach Andy Enfield said. “That’s the type of defense we expect.”
Stanford is 1-2 in their last three games, with losses to Washington and Arizona. They gave up a 15-point lead against Arizona State, but came back to win the game 79-76 Saturday.
“Stanford has a lot of experience,” Enfield said. “We didn’t play very well on the road against Stanford … Give them credit, they played very well and they beat us.”
Junior forward Isaiah Mobley continues to star on both sides of the ball. The 6-foot-10 junior has put in his best performances at home, increasing his shooting accuracy by roughly 13% and scoring 4 more points on average than in away games. Mobley had 16 points in USC’s last game against Stanford and looks to improve on their last outing against the Cardinal.
“We just [need to] be intense the whole time,” Mobley said. “I feel like if we do that, if we’re urgent on both offense and defense I think we’ll be fine.”
In their loss to Stanford, USC shot a mere 28.6% from the 3-point line. While the Trojans’ height allows for plenty of scoring in the paint, Agbonkpolo, Peterson and junior guard Boogie Ellis will look to shoot more accurately than they did at Stanford. The trio went a combined 23% from behind the arc.
The Trojans have faced issues with fouling this season, committing 14.7 personal fouls per game. Sending Stanford to the free throw line proved a key factor in USC’s loss, and playing disciplined defense will be important for USC to win.
With the Pac-12 Tournament approaching, USC is beginning to think about the postseason.
“[Enfield] has made a point, starting with Arizona State, like ‘it’s separation week,’” Mobley said. “There’s not too many games left in the Pac-12 … so we just [need to] keep winning and doing what we can to set ourselves up to be in the best position for March.”