USC Closes Regular Season At Colorado Saturday

The USC Trojans (15-15, 8-9) will play at the Colorado Buffaloes (18-11, 9-8) at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colo. at 2 p.m. PT. USC has lost three in a row and 6 of 8 games. USC is at .500 for the first time since being 6-6 on Dec. 21.

BREAKING DOWN COLORADO -   Colorado (18-11, 9-8) is coming off a 93-68 win over UCLA on March 7. Colorado has won 7 of 9 games and is 12-2 at home this season. Four Buffaloes are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Tyler Bey who leads the team with 13.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Colorado defeated USC 69-65 at the Galen Center on Feb. 9 and leads the all-time series 10-7. USC has won its last two games at Colorado.

USC FALLS AT UTAH - USC fell back to .500 with an 83-74 loss at Utah on March 7, losing for the first time this season when shooting over 50 percent (10-1). USC made 55.6 percent of its shots, but was outscored 17-1 on second chance points and 22-6 on fastbreak points. Bennie Boatwright, Nick Rakocevic and Elijah Weaver led the Trojans with 17 points a piece. Weaver, making his second start, scored a season best in points and added a team-high 5 assists. Derryck Thornton made a layup to give USC a 12-10 lead with 14:52 remaining in the first half, but Utah's Parker Van Dyke answered with a three-pointer to give the Utes a 13-12 lead and the Trojans trailed the rest of the way. Utah led 42-36 at halftime and built the lead to as many as 16 points in the second half. Van Dyke led Utah with 20 points, making 6 of 9 three-pointers.

LIFE AT THE LINE - USC made 7 of 10 free throws at Utah on March 7, after combining to go 4-for-16 in its previous three games. USC had its first game in school history without making a free throw (0-for-6) vs. Oregon State on Feb. 23 and went 1-for-7 at UCLA on Feb. 28 to match the previous school record for fewest makes and lowest free throw percentage in a game. USC was outscored 33-1 from the FT line in the two games, both five-point losses. USC is shooting 64.3 percent from the free throw line this season, 11th in the conference and 333 out of 351 schools.

PAC-12 TOURNAMENT ON DECK - USC'will begin play at the Pac-12 Tournament on March 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. With one game remaining, USC could finish as high as tied for fourth, but will finish between 6th-9th in seeding for the Pac-12 Tournament.

RAKOCEVIC HAS BEEN DOUBLE TROUBLE - USC forward Nick Rakocevic posted his 13th double-double, tied for first in the Pac-12, with 12 points and 11 rebounds at California on Feb. 16. He is second in the Pac-12 with five games of 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds. He has scored at least 15 points in 17 games and has at least 8 rebounds in 22 games. Rakocevic is averaging 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He currently ranks among the Pac-12's top 10 in five categories: rebounds (3rd), blocked shots (6th), field goal percentage (9th), offensive rebounds (2nd) and defensive rebounds (3rd), as well as ranking 11th in scoring.

RECORD-SETTING STRETCH - USC has won 86 games during the last four seasons (2016-19), the most wins in a four-year stretch in school history.

BENNIE AND THE NETS - Bennie Boatwright has made 29 three-point baskets in the last five games (29-for-53, 54.7 percent) and is 37-for-70 from three-point range (52.9 percent) the last eight games. He set the USC record for three-pointers in a game and tied the Pac-12 record with 10 (10 of 13) at California on Feb. 16. He became the fourth Pac-12 to make 10 in a game.

HART SELECTED FOR COLLEGIATE COACHING CONSORTIUM - USC Associate Head Coach Jason Hart has been selected to participate in the inaugural Collegiate Coaching Consortium, a collaboration between the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and AthleticDirctorU. This program was designed to help train and develop the next great group of leaders in the basketball coaching profession. The consortium will take place during the 2019 NABC Convention at the Hilton in Minneapolis, Minn. on April 7 and April 8.

DYNAMIC DUO FROM DEEP - USC's Bennie Boatwright (81) and Jonah Mathews (72) rank second and third respectively in three-point baskets made by Pac-12 players. Boatwright's 43.8 shooting percentage from beyond the arc ranks 19th in the country. Boatwright is 6th for most makes by a Trojan from three-point range in a season and Mathews is tied for 11th on the school single-season list. Boatwright is 12 made three-pointers away from tying the single season (93) and 11 away from tying the all-time three-pointers made (245) records by a Trojan.

BOATWRIGHT KEEPS RISING UP THE USC SCORING CHARTS - Senior Bennie Boatwright missed the first two games of the season while still coming back from offseason knee surgery, but has averaged a team-leading 18.5 points per game (3rd in Pac-12) since his return. He scored 14 points vs. Texas Tech on Nov. 19 to give him 1,008 career points. He now has scored 1,495 career points which is 7th on USC's all-time scoring, 29 behind Wayne Carlander (6th, 1,524). Boatwright has averaged 14.5 points (1,495) in 103 career games played, despite being slowed by injuries. Boatwright averaged 13.6 points in 23 games last season, first being slowed by a foot injury and then having his season end with a knee injury. He led USC to the 2017 Diamond Head Classic title by scoring a then career-high 33 points vs. New Mexico State on Dec. 25, making a career-best six three-point baskets. Boatwright has also made 234 career three-point baskets, 2nd on USC's all-time list, 11 behind Elijah Stewart (1st, 245) on USC's all-time list.

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Players Mentioned

Bennie Boatwright

Jonah Mathews

Nick Rakocevic

Elijah Stewart

Derryck Thornton

Elijah Weaver