USC Men’s Basketball Faces Crosstown Rival UCLA

Tuesday, February 24

Los Angeles, Calif.

8 p.m.

USC

UCLA

Terrance Williams II takes a shot against Oregon

USC Men’s Basketball Faces Crosstown Rival UCLA

February 23, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

This will be the 265th matchup between the two Los Angeles schools.

LOS ANGELES — USC Men's Basketball (18-9, 7-9 Big Ten) will take on crosstown rival UCLA (18-9, 10-6 Big Ten) Tuesday, Feb. 24, at Pauley Pavilion. This will be the 265th matchup between the two Los Angeles schools, a rivalry dating back to 1928. USC trails the all-time series 116-148, losing the last matchup 90-63 on Mar. 8, 2025.

WHEREABOUTS
Game #28 vs UCLA
Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. PT
Pauley Pavilion | Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: FS1

LAST TIME OUT
USC Men's Basketball fell 71-70 to the Oregon Ducks on Feb. 21 at the Galen Center on a late 7-0 surge from the Ducks in the final minute of the game. Although trailing 35-32 at the break, the Trojans were revived by a second-half push from Alijah Arenas and Ezra Ausar, who combined for 22 points in the last 20 minutes of action. Oregon capitalized off its own missed free throw by grabbing the offensive board and dishing it to Kwame Evans Jr., who'd sink the triple and pull within one. USC came up empty on its last possession, and Duck free throws carried Oregon to victory. Chad Baker-Mazara recorded a team-high 21-point performance, while Jacob Cofie set a career-high five blocks.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

UCLA notched its second-ranked win of the season on Feb. 21 over No. 10 Illinois in a 95-94 victory. Donovan Dent had the coast-to-coast game-winning layup on the Bruins' final possession to seal a 23-point comeback, the largest in program history.
Dent finished with 14 points and a career-high 15 assists. Five other UCLA players hit double-digit figures, with Eric Dailey Jr. pouring in a game-high 20 points.
Dent ranks third in the Big Ten with 7.4 assists per game and is sixth in the conference in steals, averaging 1.8 per game.
UCLA shoots a conference second-best .379 mark from beyond the arc. Skyy Clark is the most efficient sharpshooter. Clark has made six three-pointers on three separate occasions this season. Forward Tyler Bilodeau is also effective from downtown, sinking at least two triples in his last five outings.
Bilodeau averages a team-best 18.1 points per game. He has scored double digits in 23 of 25 contests this season and put up a career-high 34 points against UC Riverside (Dec. 12, 2025).
While the Bruins lead their opponents in most statistical categories, they lack strength on the boards, posting a -0.8 rebounding margin.
UCLA is 15-1 at Pauley Pavilion this season.
Head Coach Mick Cronin is in his seventh year leading the Bruins. Before this season, Cronin held a 138-64 record and had guided his teams to the Final Four (2021), Sweet Sixteen (2022, 2023), and NCAA Tournament Second Round (2025).

ROAD WARRIORS
USC has racked up frequent flyer miles with its road schedule this season. So far, the Trojans will have logged 18,539.8 flight miles across nine states.

Additionally, USC is the only Big Ten and Power-4 team to take a three-game road trip in conference play this season. The Trojans embarked on a 10-day swing to take on Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota to begin the new year.

Despite the travel, USC has been racking up road wins this season. The Trojans are 9-4 away from the Galen Center, and their nine road and neutral site wins are tied with Illinois and Purdue for the third-most in the Big Ten (Michigan leads the way with 11, while Purdue has 10).

DEFENDING THE ARC
USC is one of the best teams at defending from beyond the arc. They are 20th in the BartTorvik.com rankings in this category, holding their opponents to 30.1% from that range. This stat ranks in the 95th percentile on CBB Analytics.