UCLA @ Southern California preview

UCLA at Southern California

Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2020 ) UCLA 52, Southern California 54

When No. 21 UCLA visits the Galen Center on Saturday for the first of two late-season meetings with Los Angeles rival Southern California, last February's thrilling finish between the teams is not part of the preparation.

USC spoiled UCLA's regular-season Pac-12 title hopes on the final day of competition when Jonah Mathews sank a 3-pointer with one second left for a 54-52 victory. Mathews is gone, and most of this season's Trojans lineup has a new look compared with the 2019-20 roster.

"We haven't even discussed last year. It's got nothing to do with this year," UCLA coach Mick Cronin said Wednesday. "I don't believe in false motivation. We're in first place in the league. ... Strategically, the only reason we'd bring up something from last year is if we think it could help us."

Still, USC (14-3, 8-2 Pac-12) again poses a threat to the first-place Bruins' championship goals -- and the second-place Trojans can force a tie for first with UCLA (13-3, 9-1) if they can win Saturday.

The Trojans scored their third straight victory Tuesday, beating Stanford on the road 72-66. The result against a Cardinal team responsible for UCLA's lone Pac-12 loss reflected the changes to USC's lineup.

Evan Mobley (23 points on Tuesday), Drew Peterson (15) and Tahj Eaddy (14) were in high school, at Rice and at Santa Clara a year ago, respectively. The three also set the pace for the campaign as the only three Trojans averaging double figures in points.

Mobley in particular has been key to USC's push for its first regular-season conference title since sharing the Pac-10 championship with Washington in 1984-85. He is posting team-highs of 16.8 points and nine rebounds per game, all while logging 33.9 minutes per contest.

"Evan on fumes is a pretty good player," USC coach Andy Enfield said in his postgame press conference Tuesday after Mobley played 38 minutes. "There was no way we were gonna give him a rest in the last few minutes of the game even though he probably needed it. But he battled."

UCLA will try to wear down the standout freshman and maintain its sole ownership of first place in the conference. The Bruins come in fresh, having last played Jan. 30 in a 57-52 win over Oregon State. Their scheduled Monday game with Oregon was postponed as a result of COVID-19 protocols.

UCLA's defensive grind against the Beavers put the Bruins back on track after their only loss in conference play, a 73-72 overtime decision Jan. 23 against Stanford. The Cardinal sank a layup at the buzzer in OT off of an inbounds play to end the Bruins' 8-0 conference start, the program's best league opening since 1982-83.

While the 57 points scored against Oregon State marked the fewest the highly ranked UCLA offense has scored, the 52 the Bruins gave up tied their lowest yield of the season.

Against USC, UCLA matches up with an offense and a defense that are both ranked highly in terms of efficiency. The Trojans are holding opponents to just 41.5 percent shooting from inside the 3-point arc.

The Bruins, who are shooting 37.3 percent from outside, may need to make 3-pointers early to draw out USC's defense. UCLA features two long-range shooters, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Dave Singleton, making more than 40 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc.

Johnny Juzang has made three or more 3-pointers in three of UCLA's past six outings, including a barrage of five treys in the loss to Stanford.

--Field Level Media