Washington @ Southern California preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 8, 2017 ) Washington 73, Southern California 78

After climbing as high as No. 10 in the rankings following a 4-0 start to the season, the USC Trojans enter Pac-12 play on Friday night against visiting Washington unranked. But the Trojans, who went through a stretch that saw them lose three in a row and four of six games including a 103-93 home loss to Princeton, appear to have regained their momentum entering conference play.

USC bounced back from the embarrassing home loss to Princeton to win the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu over the Christmas holidays, disposing of Akron (84-53), Middle Tennessee (89-84) and WAC-favorite New Mexico State (77-72) along the way. Junior forward Bennie Boatwright scored a career-high 33 points in the championship game win over the Aggies, including six 3-pointers, and sank a clutch 26-footer off a double-screen with 4.1 seconds left that broke a 72-72 tie for the game-winner. Boatwright, who ranks 13th in the Pac-12 in scoring (16.5 points per game), 11th in rebounding (7.4) and is tied for ninth with Arizona 7-foot freshman sensation Deandre Ayton in blocks (1.4), was named MVP of the tournament despite missing much of the opening win over Akron after picking up a flagrant-2 foul. The Trojans, who return 98 percent of their scoring from a team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, were picked to finish second in the Pac-12 preseason poll and play four of their first six conference games at home starting with this weekend's series with the two Washington schools.

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT WASHINGTON (10-3, 0-0 Pac-12): The Huskies have won eight of their last nine games under first-year head coach Mike Hopkins including a memorable 74-65 upset of No. 2 Kansas. Freshman guard Jaylen Nowell leads the team in scoring (16.9) while shooting 49.7 percent from the floor and finished with a team-high 13 points in the Huskies' 66-63 win over Montana in the team's final non-conference tune-up last Friday. Forward Noah Dickerson (15.4 points), junior guard David Crisp (12.7) and junior guard Matisse Thybulle (10.9) also are averaging in double digits with the 6-8 Dickerson also averaging a team-best 7.9 rebounds per game.

ABOUT USC (9-4, 0-0): What makes the Trojans scary when they are clicking on all cylinders is that Boatwright is arguably their third-best player. Chimezie Metu, an explosive 6-11 junior who is listed as a potential lottery pick in some NBA mock drafts, leads the team in scoring (18.0), rebounding (7.9), blocked shots (1.6) and has also sank 9-of-16 3-pointers (56.3 percent) while senior point guard Jordan McLaughlin is third in scoring (13.5) while also shooting 47.9 percent from 3-point range. Senior guard Elijah Stewart (12.5 points) also is averaging in double figures for a Trojans squad that is averaging 81.5 points per game.

TIP-INS

1. Washington leads the Pac-12 and ranks 15th nationally in steals per game (9.3).

2. McLaughlin tied the Pac-12 single-game record for assists with 19 in a 98-87 win over UC Santa Barbara and leads the Pac-12 and ranks fifth nationally with 7.8 per game.

3. USC leads the series with the Huskies 72-71 and has won the last four meetings.

PREDICTION: USC 86, Washington 79