USC-UCLA rematch: 'This game can't mean more to them than it does to us'

USC coach Andy Enfield made it clear that the Trojans' five-game winning streak in the rivalry series with UCLA has no bearing on the teams' showdown Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion, that it's not a focus for his team or anything they are making a big deal of this week.

But all that said, he also snuck in a reminder of just how significant that streak is in the context of USC basketball history.

"When we were fortunate enough to beat them at home two weeks ago, I didn't realize this until after the game, it was the first time we had won five in a row since before World War II," Enfield said.

The rivals tip off Saturday night at UCLA at 7 p.m. PT on ESPN in the teams' regular-season finale.

The last two end-of-season meetings were won on buzzer-beating 3-pointers by USC's Jonah Mathews and Tahj Eaddy, while back on Feb. 12 the Trojans held on for a 67-64 win at Galen Center.

As Enfield noted, it's the Trojans' longest win streak in the series since USC dominated the rivalry in a different time, from 1933-43.

"And that's a credit to our players and where our program is. Our players have just done a great job -- and not just the UCLA series but overall the last few years," Enfield said. "We don't sit there and promote [the win streak]. We respect UCLA tremendously. They're a terrific basketball team, great players, very well coached and so every game is different. Just because we've won five in a row has nothing to do with this game on Saturday. It's its own game.

"I think it's senior night for UCLA, last game of the season for them at home, and they'll be ready to go. We know what we're getting into. It will be a packed house. the student section will be on our team the entire the game and on our coaches as well, but that's what college basketball is all about. It should be a lot of fun to be in that environment."

The game is a sell out and even if the streak isn't foremost on the minds of the No. 16-ranked Trojans (25-5, 14-5 Pac-12), as Enfield says, it sure seems to be for the No. 17 Bruins (22-6, 14-5).

UCLA players talked this week about the pressing importance to them to end the streak and for many players on the roster to get their first win in the rivalry, while giving hyperbolic quotes like "We've got to put our life on the line," per the Los Angeles Times.

"We've seen what they've said and they want to win really bad, so this game can't mean more to them than it does to us, so we're going to come out hungry and look to continue that win streak," USC's Drew Peterson said Thursday after practice.

Aside from the streak, the teams are jockeying for the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 tournament next week, and for the Trojans, they need to recreate some fresh momentum after taking their worst loss of the season Tuesday -- a 91-71 loss to No. 2 Arizona that was never competitive.

Indeed, that has surely been more of the focus on the USC side this week than the streak.

"If you play as poorly as we did, you have to learn something from that," Enfield said. "Our players had to realize what they did wrong. We didn't yell and scream at them. They just could watch the video and see for themselves. That was not the same team we've been all season. It was disappointing because it was against the second-ranked team in the country at home in front of a great crowd, so the biggest disappointment [for] our program is we had a big stage and we didn't play well. It was very disappointing, but in a 31-game schedule you'll have a few games where you don't play very well, and that happened to be against a really good team that made us pay for every mistake we made."

Specifically, Enfield lamented the Trojans' woeful transition defense and ball screen defense, not to mention the fact that the team's top three offensive players -- Isaiah Mobley, Peterson and Boogie Ellis -- combined to shoot 8 for 34 from the field.

"We did things that were very uncharacteristic for a team that was 25-4 going into that game so we deserved to lose. We have to get better. It was important for our players to see that because we have a lot to play for in the next 2.5 weeks," Enfield said.

Said Peterson: "Just a bunch of defensive mistakes and not enough energy from me on offense, so we're going to get it right. We had a good practice today, everybody's moving, everybody's distributing the ball, so we're feeling really good."

After practice broke Thursday, the Trojans went to the locker room for a player-led meeting, before Peterson returned to talk to reporters.

Ask about the nature of that meeting he said it was just about making sure everybody's mindset was where it needed to be.

"Just making sure, going into March is always kind of a time where you step back and really know what's important going forward," he said. "We've all got to come together and just be ready to go at this point. Next week, you lose and you go home, for the Pac-12 tourney and then [the NCAA tournament]."

Ellis, who ranks third on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game, is still playing through the lingering effects of a sprained ankle. Enfield said Ellis was definitely not 100 percent for the team's win at Oregon last weekend and that he's dealing with it still.

Overall, Ellis has been held to single-digits in four of the last five games and went scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting in the first meeting with UCLA.

"He still has that nagging ankle injury. He sprained it pretty badly. He played through a lot of pain," Enfield said. "... Sometimes it's hard to tell when guys are very tough -- he's very tough mentally -- and he wanted to be out there. I thought he really helped us against Oregon on the road. The ankle is not the reason we lost to Arizona. Boogie has continued to do treatment. These ankles take a week or two, sometimes two to three weeks, but we expect him to play as hard as he can on Saturday."

Meanwhile, guard Isaiah White, one of the Trojans' top reserves, is a game-time decision with an injured wrist that has kept him out the last three games.

"He really fell hard [vs. Washington State on Feb. 20]. It was very swollen. It's his right shooting wrist," Enfield said.

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For UCLA, leading scorer Johnny Juzang (17.0 points per game) was reportedly "50-50" to play, as of Thursday, per the LA Times' Ben Bolch.

Peterson said he has not made a decision on whether he plans to return next season or use his final year of eligibility.

"I have my eligibility and I'm figuring that out. I'm kind of worrying about that after the season and just taking the next game as I can and hoping to make a deep run in March Madness," he said.