USC’s men’s basketball team’s 80-61 win over cross town rival UCLA last week proved that the Trojans are for real.
For the past few months everyone has been waiting the Trojans to fall back down to earth, but they continue to reach for the sky. They are currently ranked No. 23 in the nation and have an overall record of 18-5, good for second place in the Pac-12 with a record of 7-3.
They face another tough test this weekend when they travel to play Arizona State on Friday at 5 p.m. and Arizona at 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Trojans need to win both games if they expect to overtake Oregon for the top spot in the Pac-12 and get a top four position in the NCAA Regional.
“Our goal is to compete at the highest level of the Pac-12 and on the national level,” said USC head coach Andy Enfield after USC’s win over UCLA last week. “We have a style of play we like to play. We like to get up and down the court. We have six players averaging double figures in scoring and we have seven or eight players playing at a high level. It does not matter who we have on the court. We can score from any position.”
Another thing the Trojans have going in their favor is home court advantage at the Galen Center. For the first in recent memory the game against UCLA last week was a sellout.
“The Galen is a terrific atmosphere for college basketball,” said Enfield. “The student section was packed and that was really nice to see. People started showing up two hours before the game. Most of the time there is nobody here two hours before the game.”
Veteran guard Julian Jacobs is excited to see the turn around. “I can’t remember the last time I saw 10.000 fans at the Galen Center. We were the laughing stock of the Pac-12 the past few years but now people on campus actually know who we are. It’s nice to be talked about in the same light as football.”
The USC women are trying to make the NCAA Tournament on the basis of their overall record of 17-7 because they are in eighth place in the Pac-12 conference at 5-7. They host Washington at 7 p.m. on Friday and Washington State on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Galen Center.
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