January 16th, Stanford (5-11, 1-4) @ #24 USC (11-5, 3-2)
The Cardinal are led by their 2-3-4 tandem, with SG Jimmy Stockman leading the way at 11 points per game. PF Josh Fife and SF Dickey Morrison are also capable of scoring in double figures and could present a decent headache for us. Luckily, Jolly does his job and holds Morrison to 5 points, and Read torches Stockman for 30 points of his own to lead us to a big victory at home.
Stanford 63 USC 81
January 19th, Arizona State (8-9, 3-3) @ #24 USC (12-5, 4-2)
The guy we really have to watch for is SG John Johnson. He's averaging 17 points per game (the same amount as Ben Read) so that battle will be really fun to watch. The difference though is the rest of our team is much better than the rest of the Sun Devils, especially at PG, where Williams should dominate. Johnson went out and got his 17, but Read was held to 7. Luckily, basketball is a team sport, so we really teamed up on them and forced them into bad shooting percentages.
Arizona St. 47 USC 61
January 23rd, #23 USC (13-5, 5-2) @ California (4-14, 1-6)
California has two strong wing men, SG George Carr (11.2 ppg) and SF Ahmad Granger (10.3 ppg), but absolutely no presence at PG or in the post. We should be able to take advantage there and get this win on the road. Take advantage of the post we did, as Carvell Jackson had a vintage game with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and limited his opponent to 0 points. Read added 22 and Williams had 12, and this win was secure from the minute the game started.
USC 85 California 67
January 26th, #23 USC (14-5, 6-2) @ Colorado (8-12, 3-5)
Colorado is reeling, losers of three straight. One thing that is interesting is that their strengths are very similar to ours, as their best players are at SG and C, but beyond that, they are very shallow. Read got 17, Collins poured in 11 and Jackson added 10, but they got 17 from their SG Mattox and their backup PG Travis Davis. We still got the win, but it was closer than I'd like.
USC 65 Colorado 62
January 30th, #22 Oregon (15-5, 7-2) @ #20 USC (15-5, 7-2)
Oregon makes their name with one of the most balanced attacks I've ever seen. Every starter is averaging between 7 and 9.5 points per game. Without any one player we can really lock on to, we'll just focus on trying to shut the whole team down. For context, our lowest scorer is Jolly at 7 points per game, and after that it's 7.6, 8.8, 12.7 and 16.8. Hopefully our superior fire power will allow us to win the game. Carvell Jackson dominated this game, 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots. Some other telling stats: 23 assists to 11 turnovers, 32 rebounds to their 25, and our 48.3% fg to their 36.2%.
Oregon 44 USC 67
February 2nd, #20 USC (16-5, 8-2) @ Oregon State (7-14, 3-7)
Oregon State has the same problem that California does: they have no real PG or big men. They have two good wings who can score, but that's really it for their team. Road games have been a challenge for us this year (4-5 on the road) but Oregon State is a team we really should beat. Jackson has yet ANOTHER big game, this time going off for 25 and 11! Read dropped 22 as well, and the Beavers had no answer for us. We shot 8/18 from beyond the arc and 54.7% overall on our way to a big blowout victory on the road.
USC 79 Oregon St. 64