Arizona @ Southern California preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 6, 2020 ) Southern California 80, Arizona 85

After dropping five of its last seven games, USC enters the home stretch of Pac-12 play in sixth place and squarely on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament bid. The Trojans, who are 11-2 at home this season, play their final three regular-season games at the Galen Center, beginning with Thursday night's contest against No. 24 Arizona.

The Trojans also host first-place Arizona State on Saturday and finish the campaign against red-hot crosstown rival UCLA in their bid to garner a top-four finish and a first-round bye for the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. "If we win those three games, then all will be well," freshman point guard Ethan Anderson told the Los Angeles Times. First up is an Arizona squad that has won six of its last eight, including four straight road wins, and defeated USC, 85-80, in their first meeting in Tucson. The Wildcats come in off a 73-72 overtime loss to Oregon on Saturday but are just a game out of first place in a very tight Pac-12 race which features the top five teams all separated by just one game.

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT ARIZONA (19-8, 9-5 Pac-12): The Wildcats' big three freshmen of point guard Nico Mannion (20 points), forward Zeke Nnaji (18) and guard Josh Green (18) combined for 56 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in the first meeting with USC which saw Arizona jump out to a 43-33 halftime advantage and lead by as many as 20 points (61-41) midway through the second half. The 6-11 Nnaji has earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors four times this season and leads the team in scoring (16.3 per game) and rebounding (8.7) and is one of 10 finalists for the Karl Malone Award which is handed out to the nation's top power forward. Mannion, like Nnaji considered a potential NBA Lottery pick next summer, is second in scoring (13.7) and is also second in the Pac-12 in assists (5.4) while the athletic Green is averaging in double figures (11.9) and also leads the team in steals with 42.

ABOUT USC (19-9, 8-7): The Trojans come in off a 79-65 loss at Utah on Sunday that saw two of their top three scorers, senior guard Jonah Mathews (12.9) and 6-11 senior forward Nick Rakocevic (11.0), play sparingly while battling the flu. Freshman forward Onyeka Okongwu, who leads the team in scoring (16.7), rebounding (8.9) and blocks (2.8), finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in the loss, his 10th double-double of the season. Mathews (238) enters the contest trailing Elijah Stewart (245) by seven 3-pointers for the school's all-time record.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. USC has won six of the last nine home meetings with Arizona including a 80-57 win last season when Rakocevic finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds and the Wildcats shot just 27.8 percent, including 5-of-25 from 3-point range.

2. Nnaji leads the Pac-12 with 12 double-doubles which also ranks third among all freshmen nationally.

3. Okongwu's 70 blocks are the fifth most by a freshman in Pac-12 history behind UCLA's Jelani McCoy (102 in 1996), Oregon's Jordan Bell (94 in 2015), Oregon's Kenny Wooten (92 in 2018) and Stanford's Robin Lopez (73 in 2007).

PREDICTION: USC 77, Arizona 76