Colorado @ Southern California preview
Galen Center
Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2017 ) Southern California 71, Colorado 68
Colorado had perhaps the best 2018 opening week in college basketball, knocking off a pair of top-16 teams to charge back on to the Pac-12 and national radar. A new week, though, brings a new challenge as the Buffaloes seek their first road win of the season on a two-game Los Angeles swing, beginning with Wednesday night’s visit to USC.
Colorado freshman point guard McKinley Wright, named the Pac-12 Player of Week after averaging 17.5 points and 7.5 assists in the wins over Arizona State (90-81 in overtime) and Arizona (80-77), said he welcomes the challenge with the Buffaloes 0-4 in true road games to date. “We haven’t won a game on the road this year, and I don’t know what that feels like as a freshman,” Wright told the school’s athletics web site earlier this week. “We’ve talked about that. Some of the older guys know what a road win feels like, and I don’t. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play the L.A. schools and hopefully get our first road win.” And even though USC and UCLA are no longer ranked after opening the season at No. 11 and 18, respectively, it will be a tall task for the Buffaloes. The Trojans appeared primed to join the Bruins at 3-1 atop the Pac-12 standings with a 76-74 lead late in Sunday night’s game at Stanford, but the Cardinal’s Deajon Davis drained a desperation 50-foot heave at the buzzer to send USC back home with a one-point loss.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1
ABOUT COLORADO (10-6, 2-2 Pac-12): Wright continues to impress as the Minnesota native notched his third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 assists vs. the Wildcats on Saturday and leads the team with his averages of 16.2 points and 5.3 assists per outing. Senior George King (13.0 points, team-leading 8.1 rebounds) and guard Namon Wright (12.3 points) also are averaging double figures, and senior reserve guard Dominique Collier, who entered last week averaging 6.4 points, scored a combined 25 points and handed out eight assists in the two upset wins. Colorado, however, has had some marked home-road splits this season and is averaging only 62.8 points on 38.7-percent shooting, including 30-of-100 3-pointers, in its four road setbacks.
ABOUT USC (11-6, 2-2 Pac-12): Junior forward Chimezie Metu, who served a disciplinary suspension for the first half of the Trojans’ game at Cal last Thursday, bounced back with a team-high 20 points against Stanford and continues to pace the squad with 17.2 points per game. Reserve forward Nick Rakocevic replaced Metu in the starting lineup vs. Cal and has posted his best scoring games of season over the last week with a total of 36 points and 14 rebounds in the contests. Forward Bennie Boatwright (16.4 points, team-leading 7.3 rebounds) and guards Jordan McLaughlin (12.7 points, conference-most 7.9 assists) and Elijah Stewart (11.5 points) also are putting up impressive numbers for USC.
TIP-INS
1. Colorado has won seven of the nine meetings since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, but USC’s wins have come in the most recent two games, including a 71-68 road triumph in Boulder in their only meeting a season ago.
2. Winning the battle of the boards could be vital as the Trojans and Buffaloes both rank in the conference’s top half with average rebound margins of 4.7 and 4.6, respectively.
3. USC leads the Pac-12 and ranks 21st nationally with a 1.44 assist-to-turnover ratio while Colorado is on the other end of the spectrum, ranking 11th in the conference and 299th nationally at 0.84.
PREDICTION: USC 80, Colorado 73