USC among crowded top of Pac-12 standings entering pivotal home stretch

With such a dramatic offseason roster overhaul, this USC basketball team was always going to need some time to find its identity, put the pieces of the puzzle together and any other sports-related cliché that applies.

So, now 20 games in, what kind of team are the Trojans?

"We are very resilient. We can do anything we put our mind to," sophomore guard Elijah Weaver said this week.

They are definitely resilient, no doubting that. In the last two weeks, USC (16-4, 5-2 Pac-12) has overcome a 21-point second half deficit to beat Stanford, erased an 11-point deficit in the final 9 minutes on the road at No. 11 Oregon before losing in double overtime, and then bounced back from that physically and mentally exhausting performance to pummel Oregon State for a 75-55 win two days later.

But is USC a true contender in the Pac-12 this season? That's what everybody is about to find out.

The Trojans are part of a logjam at the top of the standings sandwiched between Oregon (6-2 in the league), Colorado (5-2) and Stanford (4-2) as they return to the Galen Center this week for a pivotal home series against Utah on Thursday night and Colorado on Saturday night.

As the season approaches the all-telling month of February, now is the time for USC to assert itself in that conference race.

"We think we can compete with anybody on our schedule, but we also know the league is very good this year -- we can win any game we play, we also could lose any game we play because our league is really good," coach Andy Enfield said. "We're 16-4. We think looking at the league schedule we have as good a chance as anybody, but there's absolutely no guarantees because you earn what you get and I think they understand that."

The question for USC is not whether it has the pieces to that aforementioned puzzle -- but whether it has enough of the pieces fitting together enough of the time.

Freshman forward Onyeka Okongwu has been a rock for the Trojans, averaging 17.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Senior guard Jonah Mathews is playing perhaps the steadiest basketball of his collegiate career, averaging 16.6 points over the last five games while shooting 44.8 percent (13 of 29) from 3-point range in that span.

And then … well, it's anybody's guess as to who else will fill up the box score on a given night.

Senior forward Nick Rakocevic remains unpredictable after being a virtual double-double machine last year. He's been held to single digits scoring in five of the first 7 conference games.

Sophomore gaurd Elijah Weaver has really started to emerge as a spark off the bench, matching his season-high of 13 points in two of the last three games as an efficient and clutch scorer. If he is truly having a long-awaited breakout, that could transform this team down the stretch.

Highly-touted freshman forward Isaiah Mobley has nice stretches, but in general he remains a work in progress while averaging 7.3 points and 6 rebounds per game.

Grad transfer guard Daniel Utomi is the definition of a streaky shooter who can either provide a jolt or be ice cold -- sometimes alternating between both from one half to another. And freshman point guard Ethan Anderson has a very intriguing skill set, but he's still unrefined and inconsistent.

On the right nights, any of those players can be difference-makers -- again, USC just needs enough of them filling that role on the same nights.

"I think the reason we're 16-4 right now is because everybody's improved," Enfield said. "We're a better team right now than we were a month and a half ago. Our defense has been exceptional. … As a group, our team has embraced that we can be a very good defensive team and they've gone out and shown out."

USC ranks 34th nationally in holding opponts to 39.0-percent shooting and has dramtically improved its perimeter defense. After nine of their first 13 opponents made 9 or more 3-pointers against the Trojans, only one of the last seven opponents has shot that well from the outside.

The bigger question would seem to be on the offensive end, as noted above. The Trojans happen to be coming off their best shooting performance in more than a decade -- their 64.6-percent shooting against Oregon State was the program's best single-game line since shooting 68.1 percent against Delaware State during the 2007-08 season -- and they're up to 75th nationally in 3-point shooting (35.6 percent), which is actually a notable increase from where they ranked earlier in the season.

All those trends are positive, but there remains many variables -- can Weaver sustain his recent emergence, can Rakocevic settle in, can Mobley keep progressing, etc. -- if this team is going to remain a contender in the conference until the end.

The national voters seem to be maintaining a wait-and-see approach with the Trojans as well, as they are still outside of the top 25 (but receiving votes) despite their strong overall record -- USC has already matched its win total from last season -- and recent run of success.

Enfield says he's not worried about that at this point.

"I don't know who votes on these things, but we just have to take care of one game at a time. We're just trying to win games," he said. "I don't think any of that really matters at this point because we're just trying to put ourselves in position to compete for a Pac-12 championship and an NCAA tournament berth. When you get carried away or start focusing on the wrong things, that just distracts you. So we just have to focus on Thursday night and then whatever happens we'll move on to the Saturday game."

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Galen Center, Los Angeles

TV/Radio: FS1/790-AM KABC

Scouting the Utes: Utah snapped a four-game losing streak with back-to-back wins at home against Washington and Washington State, so the Utes have some fresh momentum entering this matchup. They haven't been consistent, but they did beat Kentucky (No. 13 in the polls) earlier this season and have potential to rise to the occassion. They rely heavily on 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Timmy Allen (19.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game), while freshman guard Rylan Jones (11.1 PPG) and sophomore guard Both Gach (10.6 PGG) are also averaging double-figures.

Andy Enfield says: "Utah is very dynamic offensively because they can stretch the floor, they can shoot, they have great shooters at different positions, two big-time drivers in their wing players, Timmy Allen is one of the leading scorers in our league and they have good size. So they're a very good basketball team. They have some very good wins -- they beat Kentucky, they beat BYU. They just won two in a row at home, beat Washington and Washington State. ... We have our hands full Thursday night."