It's clear listening to USC senior guard Jonah Mathews just how much it matters to him to get into the NCAA Tournament this season in his final chance.
More to the point, though, that's been just as apparent watching him on the court this week, delivering time and again in what has seemed like every pivotal moment for these Trojans.
Take Saturday night as the latest example, as Mathews scored a game-high 23 points -- many coming when the Trojans needed it most -- in a 71-61 win over Arizona State inside the Galen Center.
Those NCAA Tournament hopes had been pushed squarely on the bubble last week with losses at Colorado and Utah, but with back-to-back wins over Arizona and Arizona State, the Trojans (21-9, 10-7 Pac-12) have helped their case considerably in the last three days.
It was a balanced effort with Daniel Utomi getting hot from beyond the arc early and finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Nick Rakocevic chipping in 13 points and 11 boards and Onyeka Okongwu scoring 10 before fouling out late.
But Mathews -- who like Rakocevic had been significantly affected by a virus on that road trip last week -- was the story of the game Saturday.
"For him to go through that virus ... for him to bounce back like that so quickly, I was shocked that he was so good against Arizona. And I expected him to play well tonight because he had another two days to recover, but he's just been playing super basketball," coach Andy Enfield said.
Senior guard Quinton Adlesh took it a step further in discussing Mathews: "This guy's been stepping up like crazy for us lately. He's leading us in every single way, like vocally, with his play, his leadership."
USC had played a terribly sloppy game in the first half with 14 turnovers before halftime, and despite jumping out to a quick 13-point lead the Trojans were up by just 4 in the final minutes of the half and ceding all momentum.
That is, until Rakocevic grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Mathews for an open 3-pointer, which he swished. The senior guard then stole the ball from Arizona State leading scorer Remy Martin and turned it into a layup to push the lead to 41-32. The Sun Devils would close to within 41-36 at half, but the Trojans were at least still in control thanks to Mathews' surge.
Later, though, that lead was just 1 point when Mathews took charge again.
He had actually turned the ball over near midcourt, as Taeshon Cherry's steal set up a Martin layup to make it a 54-53 USC lead -- the closest it had been since the opening minutes.
But Mathews bounced right back. Two possessions later he converted a physical layup, drawing contact and sinking the ensuing free throw. The next time down court he drained a 3 from the left wing, and then on the following possession he drove hard into the paint for another layup while pushing USC's lead to 62-55.
"We knew they were going to come back with a punch, they're obviously good. We knew we were going to get a punch from them. At that point I just wanted to solidify the win," Mathews said. "I just made plays, my teammates found me, just happy to make plays as a senior. Coach put the ball in my hands, I had to produce."
The 23 points were a season-high for Mathews and two of his three 20-point games this season have now come against Arizona State.
The Trojans kept that modest margin over the Sun Devils until extending it in the final minute. A crowd-pleasing reverse layup from Utomi with 1:29 to go made it a 69-61 game and all but sealed the win.
Utomi had connected on four of his first five 3s while leading the charge early, as USC jumped out to leads of 19-6 and 24-11.
But the game was looking eerily similar to the teams' first meeting in Tempe, when USC committed a season-worst 24 turnovers to give the game away in a 66-64 loss on Feb. 8.
This time, they had 14 turnovers by halftime. Asked how he addressed that with his team, Enfield said "Very loudly."
"You can't coach some things on the court. They have to go make plays, you have to be tough with the ball, run through your catch. And as much as you go over it in practice, you have to go perform. We finally did that in the second half," he said.
Enfield has highlighted his team's defense all season because often it's what they have to lean on. Speaking Saturday night, he rattled off the names of former standouts Julian Jacobs, Jordan McLaughlin, Chimezie Metu, Bennie Boatwright and Elijah Stewart as a reminder that USC has had dynamic offenses before but that this team is built differently.
"That's who we are. We have two freshmen point guards -- Kyle [Sturdivant is] not with us right now -- and a sophomore backup, Elijah [Weaver], and our guard play has been very streaky this year. That's what you get with freshmen point guards -- they're getting better, they're improving, but their best basketball is ahead of them," Enfield said. "And at times this year Jonah was streaky -- now Jonah's playing great right now -- and Utomi was streaky, Elijah Weaver's been streaky. So we've been winning by committee. The fact that we have 21 wins right now is a testament to our defense and our toughness. We understand that. …
"We've just got to win. You win ugly, you win pretty, it doesn't matter -- you've just got to win."
Anderson played only 14 minutes after picking up three early fouls and finished scoreless. With Sturdivant still away following the death of his father and Weaver struggling in this game (0 points, 1 assist, 5 turnovers), Enfield turned to Adlesh, the grad transfer guard who didn't play a minute in two of the last three games.
Adlesh had 3 turnovers himself, but he also knocked down two 3s for 6 points -- his most in conference play -- and was an active defender.
"He didn't play a minute in two of the last three games, and for him to just stay in there mentally, he's a captain for a reason,{ Enfield said. "The guy does everything right, he's a straight-A student, he's taking grad courses now, graduated from Columbia and he just works so hard and he's encouraging to his teammates. He's one of the best teammates I've ever coached. He doesn't care about himself, he just wants the team to win and he wants to contribute any way he can. And tonight he had to play 20 minute and wow was he good. Defensively, he was exceptional."
As Enfield said, this is who these Trojans are -- it's not always pretty, the offense can be frustrating and the struggles against the press confounding. But they do play hard and they usually defend well, and they're making their case for the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi had the Trojans projected as a No. 11 seed and having to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, as of Friday.
"We talk about it here and there, we obviously want to get in, but we know how much these games matter to us,{ Mathews said. "So we take it upon ourselves as athletes and basketball players to give it our all. Especially for us seniors, there's no next year."
He was asked if he felt the Trojans had done enough at this point to punch their ticket.
"No, we've still got work to do. We've got UCLA, we've got to handle them next week and then go to the Pac-12 Tournament and try to win. We're definitely not close to over yet," he said.
