Pac-12 foes will collide when the Stanford Cardinal (13-12) challenge the USC Trojans (19-8) at Maples Pavilion. Action begins at 11:00 pm ET on Thursday, Feb. 25 and can be seen on PAC.
The Cardinal are hoping to rebound after their 64-53 loss to Washington in their last matchup. Rosco Allen was the team’s leading scorer with 20 points. The Trojans, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their 80-69 loss against Utah in their last game. Bennie Boatwright played well for USC, recording 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Jordan McLaughlin has upped his play over the last five games for the Trojans, averaging 16.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.4 steals, and 2.0 three-pointers.
A focal point for Stanford is getting to the free throw line. It ranks 12th in the nation in FTA rate (45.0), but USC is among the best in the nation at keeping opponents away from the charity stripe (ranking 26th by yielding a FTA rate of 28.1). It will also be a tale of two tempos, as the fast-paced Trojans are ranked 15th in possessions per game, with the grind-it-out Cardinal at 292nd.
Notes
The USC Trojans have a defensive rating of 100.0 (ranked 95th), while the Stanford Cardinal have an offensive rating of 103.6 (ranked 219th).
With 66.8 possessions and 1.036 points per possession, the Stanford Cardinal perform worse on both metrics than the USC Trojans. USC averages 74.0 possessions and 1.113 points per possession.
Stanford has an average effective field goal percentage of 47.0%. USC is an even 7-7 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
USC ranks 68th in assists, recording 15.2 per game. Stanford performs worse at 306th with 11.4 assists per game.
USC, the ninth-ranked team in blocked shots, registers an average of 5.7 per game. Stanford ranks lower at 196th with 3.2.
Stanford ranks 123rd in offensive rebounds, while USC ranks 28th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Stanford makes 6.9 steals per game. USC has a winning 7-4 record when it gives up at least 6 steals.
