Southern California and Oregon open the Pac-12 Conference slate Thursday when the Ducks host the Trojans in Eugene.
USC (6-5) continues a four-game road swing, having split a pair in Alabama. The Trojans routed Alabama State on Dec. 19, 79-59, ending a losing skid that extended to three games with their 91-75 loss Dec. 17 at Auburn.
Arrinten Page led USC with a career-high 12 points against Alabama State. Kobe Johnson and Isaiah Collier each added 11 points to buoy the Trojans on a night Boogie Ellis — the Trojans’ leading scorer at 19.5 points per game — went 0-for-5 from the floor.
USC coach Andy Enfield praised Collier’s decision-making in addition to the freshman’s scoring. Collier committed four of the Trojans’ 15 turnovers in the loss at Auburn, but had only one of USC’s 11 vs. Alabama State.
“He really grew tonight because he made the right reads, passed it at the right time,” Enfield said. “He probably should have had 10 or 11 assists because he made some other good passes where our guys got fouled and made free throws.”
Bronny James made 2 of 5 field-goal attempts, all from 3-point range.
Oregon (8-3) comes in a winner in four of its past five following an 84-70 defeat of Kent State Dec. 21. Jermaine Couisnard scored a season-high 27 points and shot 10-for-13 inside the 3-point arc.
Couisnard and freshman Jackson Shelstad lead Oregon from the perimeter after the Ducks sustained a pair of key losses on the interior. N’Faly Dante underwent knee surgery following his 16-point, 21-rebound debut against Georgia and is not expected back until later in conference play.
Nathan Bittle suffered a wrist injury and is out for the season.
Oregon committed just five turnovers against Kent State, a point of emphasis for the Ducks.
“If we’re going to play small, those guys have got to handle the ball,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said postgame.
The Ducks gave up 19 turnovers in a 20-point loss the previous outing vs. Syracuse in South Dakota.
“We were just a fundamentally unsound, poorly coached team,” Altman said of the Syracuse loss.
–Field Level Media
