The Trojans face Oregon State in what is to be the final home of the season for USC. As a result, tonight will be Senior Night, as the team will pay tribute to its three seniors Mike Gerrity, Marcus Johnson, and Dwight Lewis, as well as redshirt junior Kasey Cunningham, who will not return to the team and instead graduate this summer. While Kevin O'Neill's bunch will no longer be able to earn a share of the Pac-10 regular season title thanks to Thursday's loss to Oregon and Cal's win over Arizona State earlier today, they are still looking to end the season on a positive note. Per ESPN Los Angeles:
2. The Trojans are coming off two straight losses. What can coach Kevin O'Neill's team do to prevent extending its losing streak?
The last time USC lost more than two games in a row was early December, but that was before the zone epidemic reached Los Angeles. Every Pac-10 team has been defending USC with a 2-3 zone since January, and the Trojans re going to see much of the same from Oregon State. Craig Robinson's team will be in that zone all game long, and O'Neill's team isn't well-equipped to handle that.
"We'll be playing all our games against the zone," O'Neill said at the start of his press conference following Thursday's loss. "And it'll be the goal of our weekend to try to bounce back from this loss and try to play a better game on Saturday."
3. Oregon State's a grudge match for the Trojans. They led by five at the half last time in Corvallis before collapsing in the final 20 minutes to lose, 51-45, shooting 39 percent and turning the ball over 19 times. What can they do different this time around?
"We had leads in the first half, leads in the second half," O'Neill said. "That was a case of just turning the ball over, which is uncharacteristic of us. We're going to have make sure
Championships and postseason bids aside, it'd be nice to see this team end the season on a high note, especially after all the stuff they've been put through thanks to Mike Garrett and the rest of the athletic department. So if you get the chance, tune into today's game which will be televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket and also stop by our gameday thread here as well.
Fight On! Beat the Beavers!