GAME NOTES: The USC Trojans try to dig themselves out of the basement in the Pac-12 standings as they host the Colorado Buffaloes on Thursday at the Galen Center.

USC finds itself tied with California for last place in the league standings with just one win in seven opportunities, that lone victory coming against the Golden Bears (71-57) three weeks ago at home. Since taking down Cal, the Trojans have bowed in four straight, the latest being a 59-55 final at Oregon State last weekend.

USC has dropped six of the last seven outings overall, a puzzling turn of events given the team had not lost back-to-back decisions all season long prior to this slide.

As for the Buffaloes, they too recently experienced a four-game losing streak in conference play, but that came to an end last weekend with a resounding 90-58 triumph versus Washington State at home. With a mark of 3-4 in league play, Colorado is tied with UCLA and WSU for sixth place in the standings.

With respect to the all-time series, Colorado is ahead by a count of 8-3, thanks to six straight victories over the Trojans. Earlier this month, the Buffs registered a convincing 86-65 victory at home.

Colorado left no doubt against the Cougars recently, as it shot 54.8 percent from the floor and 11-of-22 behind the 3-point line during the 32-point blowout. Askia Booker led six players in double figures as he tallied 21 points, followed by Jaron Hopkins with 13, while Tory Miller, Tre'Shaun Fletcher, Xavier Talton and Wesley Gordon all tallied 10 points. Gordon also accounted for 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots as he did a little bit of everything to ensure the victory in front of the hometown crowd.

In conference games, Gordon is rather reserved when it comes to his own scoring, producing just 7.7 ppg, but he makes a major impact in many other ways with his 10.6 rpg and 16 shot rejections. Like everyone else on the squad, Gordon allows Booker to take control of the offense, resulting in 18.1 ppg on 43.5 percent accuracy beyond the arc. Booker is also the leader when it comes to getting teammates involved in the action, having handed out 24 assists in those seven league bouts.

The Trojans went into Gill Coliseum last week in Corvallis and like every other team that has dropped in on Oregon State, were turned back by the Beavers. USC shot only 34.0 percent from the floor and 27.8 percent behind the 3-point line, but managed to stay in the hunt thanks to a 16-of-18 showing at the free-throw line. Katin Reinhardt led the USC charge with 17 points, followed by Nikola Jovanovic with another 13 points, to go along with six rebounds in the close call.

On a unit that is putting up 65.0 ppg versus the rest of the Pac-12, Jovanovic is the top scorer for the Trojans with 14.9 ppg, thanks to his impressive 58.1 percent shooting from the floor. However, the rest of the squad is having a tough time finding the basket as they shoot a collective 40.9 percent from the field. What's worse is that USC can't seem to find a groove when setting up behind the 3-point line where it is only 28.4 percent efficient, compared to 37.9 percent for the opposition.

With Booker on their side, the Buffs don't need much more in order to take down USC on the road. It may not be pretty, but a win is a win.