As the majority of men’s college basketball teams have reached the midway point of the season there are only two remaining undefeated teams: USC Trojans and Baylor Bears.
The USC Trojans are making a name for themselves with a 13-0 record to start the season. They are sitting nicely at No. 5 in the AP Top-25. The last time The Trojans were this high in the AP Poll was week four (Sept. 24) of the 2017-18 season when they were at No. 5. Let’s take a look at how they have reached this point without a loss and what is to come.
Non-Conference Play
As to be expected for an undefeated Power 5 team they fared pretty well against their non-conference opponents. In those 10 games they scored an average of 75.5 points per game and beat opponents by an average of 16.1 points. They also held teams to less than 70 points eight times, and the most given up was 71 (Temple and Dixie State). They’re no Baylor Bears, but they were still coming away with some good early victories.
They did not play a ton of major competition, but they did have some tough early opponents like the Temple Owls (9-6) who have had seven of the 15 games end with single digits. Temple was down 46-27 at halftime, but mounted a second half comeback where they outscored USC by 14 to make it a final of 76-71.
Early Conference Play
The start of their conference play came a little earlier than some teams. The first matchup came on Dec. 1st at home against the Utah Utes (8-8) where they claimed a dominant victory at 83-63.
They followed that up by going to the Washington State Cougars (9-6) where they were on the ropes. The largest lead either team could generate was seven. It was all locked up at 54 apiece with 2:30 remaining and USC was even down 61-60 with 35 seconds to go. The regained the lead with 16 seconds and the Cougars failed to capitalize on their final two possessions giving the Trojans a 63-61 victory.
The Trojans, then went on to play four more non-conference games and were set to for one more before starting conference play, but like so many teams virus issues hit. Their final non-conference game came on Dec. 18 against Georgia Tech. Their next game against Oklahoma State was cancelled and then back-to-back conference games against Arizona State and Arizona were postponed.
Their first conference game of the new year came on Jan. 6, almost thee weeks after their last game, against The California Golden Bears. This was a crucial matchup because it had been a long break and because USC had won 16 straight games against teams from California. It was a hard fought battle late into the second half but the Trojan offense broke away and they claimed a 77-63 victory thus stretching the streak to 17 games.
Following that game another conference matchup against Stanford was postponed and was pushed to Jan. 11.
Top Play Makers
This USC Trojans team has some serious fire power. Four guys are averaging 10 or more points per game, five are averaging 3.5 or more rebounds per game, four are averaging 2.5 or more assists per game and five have more than 100 total points.
The most notable guys are 6′ 10″ junior Isaiah Mobley and junior Boogie Ellis. Mobley leads the team with 199 points (15.3 ppg), 124 rebounds (9.5 rpg) and a 44.0 3-point percentage. Eliis leads the team with a 74.2 free throw percentage and steals with 12 (0.9 spg), is second with 39 assists (3.0 apg) and is third with 155 points (11.9 ppg).
Yet the guy teams really need to watch out for is Chevez Goodwin. He is second in points with 170 (13.1 ppg), but he scores at a spectacular rate. He has taken 115 shots and has made 74 of them giving him a 64.3 FG%. If he is on the floor with the ball in his hands he is usually successful.
Biggest Failure
Free throws. This is such an easy flaw to point out, but for teams that are supposed to be at the top it is extra important. They can be the make it or break it factor for a lot of teams. Struggles at the charity stripe means struggles in close games.
For this Trojans team they need to fix their free throw issues immediately. They are shooting it at a brutal 60% as a team. An average of 6.6 free points are being left on the court each game. They have had five games with seven or more misses. This included a 6-18 performance against San Diego State.
Although Goodwin can make the majority of his shots he is the worst on the team at the line. He is only 22-43 which is 51.2%.
Luckily for USC they have not blown a game due to missed free throws, but they cannot chance it much longer. They will soon be facing an Arizona team that has four of their major players with a 75% or better from the charity stripe and 72.3% as a team. As well as a Colorado team shooting 72.4% as a team.
With the high likelihood that these games will be close in the final minutes it will come down to who can do the best when put on the free throw line. Right now that is not in favor of USC.
Upcoming Games
The Pac-12 does not have the toughest group of teams but the teams that are good, are extremely good. Of the 12 teams only three are ranked in the AP Poll but all three are ranked in the Top 10. The UCLA Bruins (10-1) are No. 3, USC is No. 5 and the Arizona Wildcats (12-1) are No. 6.
Yet there is still some great unranked teams. The Colorado Buffaloes are 11-3, Washington State is 9-6 and Stanford is 8-4. On the other hand four of their teams are either at .500 or below.
USC has a tough road ahead of them. Sure, they have two against the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-8) and Oregon State Beavers (3-10), but they also have two against UCLA and Arizona.
The USC Trojans is undefeated and has a very long winning streak against California teams but they are going to be in for some major work against a UCLA team led by Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Johnny Juzang when they first meet on Feb. 12.
This USC Trojans team has the ability to beat teams with it’s blistering offense and solid defense. They have experienced players who know how to win games. Unfortunately they have serious issues with free throw shooting making the chance of stay undefeated, especially in tight games hard to achieve. With opponents like Arizona and UCLA they will have to put in a lot of work to come away undefeated.
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