Santa Clara @ Southern California preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 15, 2010 ) Santa Clara 73, Southern California 86

With five starters back from a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 and won a school-record 26 games, USC came into the season well-positioned for another deep run in March. Instead, the Trojans will be trying to snap an early three-game losing streak when they host Santa Clara on Thursday night.

USC, which was ranked as high as No. 10 after opening the season with four straight victories, comes into the game with the Broncos unranked and looking to end the school’s longest nonconference slide since 2012. Granted, all three losses were to quality opponents -- No. 10 Texas A&M (75-59), at revenge-minded SMU (72-55), which lost to the Trojans in the NCAA Tourney last season, and No. 24 Oklahoma (85-83). Each defeat featured second-half offensive droughts by a team that returned 98 percent of its scoring, but head coach Andy Enfield saw some light at the end of the tunnel in last Friday’s loss to the Sooners when it rallied from a 59-41 deficit and had a chance to win it at the end. “We finally looked like the offense we expected to be,” Enfield said after Jordan McLaughlin missed a potential game-winning half-court heave at the buzzer. “We came out and played the kind of USC basketball we’ve been waiting for. … They never gave up. Sometimes they didn’t play as well as they should. Or could. But they have a lot of heart.”

TV: 10 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT SANTA CLARA (3-6): The Broncos come in off a 87-84 home loss to Portland State, which made its final 16 field goal attempts. Junior guard KJ Feagin leads the team in scoring (18.9) and assists (3.3) and is shooting 40.0 percent from 3-point range. Henry Caruso, a grad transfer from Princeton, is second in scoring (13.2) and leads the team in rebounding (7.3) while Matt Hauser (11.4) and Josip Vrankic (11.1) also average in double figures.

ABOUT USC (4-3): Chimezie Metu, an athletic 6-foot-11 junior forward who is considered a potential NBA lottery pick, leads the team in scoring (15.6), rebounding (8.1) and blocks (2.0). Bennie Boatwright is second in scoring (14.6), rebounding (7.9) and blocks (1.6) but has struggled with his outside shot, connecting on just 12-of-43 3-pointers (27.9 percent). McLaughlin (14.4) and Elijah Stewart (11.4), who recently scored his 1,000th career point, also are averaging in double figures.

TIP-INS

1. Metu has as many blocks (14) as Santa Clara’s entire team.

2. McLaughlin picked up his 500th career assist in the Oklahoma loss and leads the Pac-12 in assists (6.3) and ranks second in steals (2.3).

3. USC leads the all-time series 22-8 and won the last meeting, 86-73, on Nov. 15, 2010.

PREDICTION: USC 86, Santa Clara 78