Southern California @ Utah preview

Southern California at Utah

Last Meeting ( Feb 6, 2019 ) Utah 77, Southern California 70

With two games remaining, only four seeds (No. 1 Washington, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 11 Washington State and No. 12 California) have been locked up for next week’s Pac-12 Tournament. That means eight seeds - including two first-round byes - are still up for grabs, and Utah along with visiting USC are in the thick of that mix heading into their game Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

Entering Wednesday, the 9-7 Runnin’ Utes were tied for third in the conference with Oregon State and UCLA while USC was a game back at 8-8 and part of a three-way tie for sixth with Colorado and Oregon. Arizona and Stanford rounded out the logjam in a tie for ninth at 8-9 apiece. “Our biggest thing is just go home and defend home court,” Utah senior guard Sedrick Barefield told the Salt Lake Tribune following last Saturday’s 71-63 loss at Colorado. “… We know how big these games are, especially us seniors, and the younger guys (are) trying to send us out on the right note.” While Utah closes out the regular season at home against USC and UCLA following a 1-2 road stretch, the Trojans are in the midst of a three-game road trip and visit Colorado on Saturday to wrap things up.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

ABOUT USC (15-14, 8-8 Pac-12): Beginning with a 77-70 home loss to Utah on Feb. 6, the Trojans have dropped five of their last seven - including a 93-88 overtime decision at UCLA last Thursday. Senior forward Bennie Boatwright had a game-high 25 points and a career-high 15 rebounds versus the Bruins and is averaging 23.5 points and 7.3 boards over his last four games, but fellow forward Nick Rakocevic has only 10 points and 10 rebounds combined over his last two outings - well below his season averages of 14.8 and 9.3, respectively. Guard Jonah Mathews is the other USC player averaging double figures at 12.6 points, and he’s combined with Boatwright to drain 148 of the team’s 248 3-pointers as the Trojans pace the Pac-12 in long-range accuracy at 38.2 percent.

ABOUT UTAH (15-13, 9-7): The Utes also have struggled down the stretch, dropping three of their last four to cast some doubt on what looked to be a sure-fire, top-four Pac-12 finish two weeks ago. Barefield averages a team-leading 16.8 points, including 52 over the last two games, and is shooting 39.5 percent from 3-point range along with 83.5 at the free-throw line. Forwards Timmy Allen (11.7) and Donnie Tillman (10.2) are the other double-digit scorers for Utah, which is tied with Oregon State for the top team field-goal percentage mark in the conference at 46.6.

TIP-INS

1. With its road win earlier this season, Utah has won nine of the last 11 meetings in the series.

2. Utah is only 3-4 in Pac-12 home games this season while USC is 2-5 on the road in the conference, beating only bottom-feeders California and Washington State.

3. USC averages a Pac-12-most 16.8 assists per contest but owns a minus-1.5 average rebound margin.

PREDICTION: Utah 77, USC 73