Alaska Airlines Arena – Seattle, WA
Tip-off: Wednesday, 11:00 pm ET
Line: USC -2.5

USC looks to hang a fourth straight loss on Washington when they visit Seattle on Thursday night.

Coach Lorenzo Romar’s Washington Huskies return home to Seattle, the site of their two Pac-12 wins this season (2-7, 3-6 ATS in conference play) after getting swept at Arizona and Arizona State this past week. The Huskies’ 11-point loss failed to cover (+3.5) in Tempe, but they did manage to keep it relatively close against the #5 Wildcats in Tucson on Sunday (77-66, UW +17). Washington is 7-5 at home this season (4-8 ATS). As 2.5-point home underdogs, Washington is winless this season when on the wrong side of the spread (0-9, 2-7 ATS). USC comes into Wednesday night’s contest riding high after beating rival and #8 UCLA at the Galen Center a week ago (84-76, USC +7), USC’s fourth straight win over their crosstown rivals. Coach Andy Enfield’s Trojans are 5-4 (3-6 ATS) in Pac-12 play, including a 2-2 (1-3 ATS) in-conference road mark. Overall the Trojans are 4-2 (3-3) on the road this season and 2-0 (1-1 ATS) as road favorites. With a week’s worth of rest, it’s worth noting that USC is 7-2 (4-4 ATS) this season with 3+ days of rest. USC is 3-4 ATS in their last seven games, after going on a stretch of six games prior (dating back to Dec. 11) without covering. (The Trojans are 10-11 ATS on the season). Recent head to head trends show Washington and USC splitting their last four meetings, each time with the home team victorious. The home team in this matchup is 6-0 (5-1 ATS) since Feb. ’13. In total trends, the Under is 3-1 in USC’s last four games and 4-2 in Washington’s last six games. While Washington is still missing F Malik Dime (5.5 PPG, 2.6 BPG) with a broken thumb, USC may get sophomore F Benny Boatwright (MCL) back after a 15-game absence. The 6’10” inside-outside threat averaged 11.5 PPG his freshman season and 10.8 PPG in five games this season before his injury. Boatwright is officially a “game time decision” for the Trojans, having last played in late November.

USC has turned its season around with wins in three of their last four. While they’ve had UCLA’s number in recent years, beating this season’s version of the heavily-hyped Bruins could be a program-defining win for Coach Enfield and his staff. It will be interesting to see if they can still ride the wave of that momentum after a week off, or the Washington road trip will be a letdown for the Trojans. USC beat UCLA by imposing their will on their rivals on defense, forcing 21 turnovers and committing just nine, while being a step ahead on offense. By getting into the paint with ease (21 FTA) and dropping 14 threes, USC was able to overcome a 40% FG night. The Trojans added 20 assists, out-passing the nation’s #1 team in assists per game. After facing the most heavily-hyped freshman in California and defeating him (Bruins G Lonzo Ball), the Trojans will now have to deal with slowing down another future lottery pick in Washington’s Markelle Fultz. Coach Enfield feels confident in his team’s defense thanks to their own freshman star, albeit one much less heralded than Ball and Fultz. G De’Anthony Melton (9.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.8 SPG) has come from relative obscurity to take on a huge “Swiss-army knife” type role for USC. Melton was the best freshman on the floor in USC’s win over UCLA, going toe-to-toe with UCLA’s Ball and forcing him into seven turnovers. The rangy and athletic Melton, who leads the Pac-12 in steals per game, ended the night with a full line of 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Watching Fultz and Melton go at it will be a treat on Thursday night. USC is a relatively thin team that could use the depth boost that a Bennie Boatwright return would give them, but their key rotation players are all high-quality Pac-12 guys. G Elijah Stewart leads USC in scoring (14.1 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 40% 3PT) and is a guy who can get hot in a hurry from downtown and also provide weak side help on defense. Stewart and Melton both average more than a block per game from the guard position. G Jordan McLaughlin (13.9 PPG, 5.3 APG) is a steady floor leader who can take over a game with his scoring or passing. The junior guard (3rd in the Pac-12 in assists behind Ball and Fultz) has eight assists in each of his last three contests and scored 36 points over two games last season against the Huskies. F Chimeze Metu (13.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.7 BPG) is having a breakout sophomore season and flourishing in Boatwright’s absence. Metu is a defensive presence on the interior, leading USC’s 10th in the nation block average (5.9 BPG).

One has to wonder how much star G Markelle Fultz (23.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 6.0 APG) has left to give his Huskies. The talent and experience around the future top NBA draft pick just isn’t there for Coach Romar to compliment his playmaker and it’s fair to wonder how much sense it makes for Washington to run Fultz into the ground ahead of a bright professional career. Fultz has played at least 37 minutes in his last six games (three of those were 40 or more minutes), and has averaged 22.2 shot attempts per game in his last five. The Pac-12’s leading scorer and second-leading assist man has been more efficient at home, however, shooting better than 50% FG in each of his last four home tilts. A Huskies defense that allows 79.5 PPG (311th in NCAA) will now have to find a way to stop a USC offense boasting six players that average 9.4 PPG or more (and are on a week’s worth of rest). Coach Romar does have some good memories in Seattle from last season’s matchup with the Trojans where Washington erased a 22-point second-half deficit to earn an 87-85 comeback victory. The Huskies got 66 points combined from since-departed Dejounte Murray, Marquese Chriss and Andrew Andrews, but did get a solid 12-point contribution from then-freshman G David Crisp. A year later and the sweet-shooting southpaw Crisp (13.8 PPG, 40.7% 3PT) is now working on a 13-game double-figure scoring streak. Unfortunately Crisp is just 5-for-23 from three in his last three contests. Sophomore F Matisse Thybulle (9.8 PPG, 40.8% 3PT) has emerged as a nice perimeter threat with additional minutes recently providing Washington with efforts of 15 and 10 points, respectively, in losses to Arizona State and Arizona last weekend.