Southern California @ Washington preview

Southern California at Washington

Last Meeting ( Jan 14, 2021 ) Washington 68, Southern California 95

Newly ranked and tied atop the Pac-12 Conference, No. 20 Southern California continues its pursuit of the program's first regular-season championship since 1985 on Thursday when it faces Washington in Seattle.

The Trojans (15-3, 9-2) moved into a tie for first place with rival UCLA after routing the Bruins, 66-48, on Saturday. With the regular season a little more than halfway complete, USC embarks on the final-month stretch against the same Washington program with which it shared its last league title 36 years ago.

The Huskies (3-14, 2-10) are in a much different position now than in that 1984-85 season, tied with Cal at the bottom of the Pac-12 in the win column. Washington dropped its third straight when it fell to Oregon on Saturday, 86-74.

Each of the Huskies' losses in their current skid were by at least 12 points.

"You see a lot of so-called upsets in our league that have happened over the last few weeks," USC coach Andy Enfield said postgame Saturday. "The teams at the top can't take anything for granted, and we certainly are not going to. We'll try to stay focused on game to game; our next game is Thursday, and we'll prepare for that like we did for today."

Among the noteworthy upsets in Pac-12 play recently is Washington's 84-80 defeat of Colorado on Jan. 20. At 9-4, the Buffs match conference-leading USC and UCLA in the win column and would be ahead in that category without the upset loss in Seattle.

Even in victory, however, the Washington defense has been vulnerable. The Huskies rank No. 214 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.com metrics, in part the result of allowing opponents to shoot 34.7 percent from 3-point range.

USC shot 34.6 percent from outside against UCLA, but guard Ethan Anderson went 5-for-7 in a career-high 19-point performance. Anderson's shooting was central to beating the zone defense UCLA unveiled with post players Cody Riley and Jalen Hill out of the lineup.

The Trojans will see another zone Thursday. Washington coach Mike Hopkins, a longtime assistant to 2-3 zone guru Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, runs a similar scheme with the Huskies.

This season, Washington's zone has struggled regrouping when opponents miss, resulting in the Huskies surrendering offensive rebounds on 38.2 of defensive possessions. That is a concern against a USC team that is among the nation's best in offensive rebounding, pulling down its own misses on 37 percent of possessions.

Another potential mismatch for Washington to address is its response to aggressive defense, which vexed the Huskies last time out against Oregon.

"We came out with great energy," Hopkins said postgame. "We're moving the ball and sharing the ball and then we go through periods where Oregon starts ramping up their defense a little bit and we just get a little selfish. We get one dimensional."

USC, meanwhile, is coming off its second-lowest scoring yield of the season. The 48 points to which it held UCLA on Saturday marked the Bruins' fewest points scored in more than six years.

--Field Level Media