By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
This week we finally saw the cross-country trips take hold and make things very difficult for teams making the trek across two-plus time zones.
With Washington’s loss at Ohio State last night, the visiting team went 0-7 in such games in the Big Ten last week. The combined record in combined games for teams traveling two time zones or more is now 14-23
Here’s an update on the Los Angeles schools for Week 15.
Trojans Trending Up in Second Half of Season
It has been a season of highs and lows for USC to this point. Since the calendar rolled over to 2025, the Trojans are 5-6 with no streak—winning or losing—lasting longer than two games.
The last week was no different with a small dip falling at Purdue before climbing back up with a win over Penn State on Tuesday night. Now, will they once again crest the peak and fall back down, or continue to climb?
If the performance on Tuesday night was any indication, it would seem the Trojans may be on the rise.
USC blitzed the Nittany Lions from the jump at the Galen Center. The Trojans shot season-highs for field goal percentage at 67.3% and three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 75.0% against PSU.
And it was not the three-for-four kind of 75%. Southern Cal knocked down 12 three-pointers in the win, seven of them coming from Chibuzo Agbo alone.
All told, seven Trojans scored eight-plus points and USC had an assist rate of 70%. The ball movement was particularly nice to see as the Trojans are now 64th in the country with an assist rate of 57.6% on the season.
USC also never let off the gas in the win as an 11-point halftime lead ballooned to a 25-point win with a 52-point second-half barrage.
With seven regular season games remaining, the Trojans need to keep the roller coaster ascending and they might have the opportunity to do just that. Next up is a visit from Minnesota and the only game for the Trojans in the next week.
Among the final seven games, five of them will be played on the West Coast with the lone East Coast swing being a Thursday/Sunday combo at the end of next week at Maryland and Rutgers.
The Trojans find themselves knocking on the door of a Top 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and the bye that would come with it.
To get there they will need Wesley Yates to stay hot. He has now reached double figures in scoring in 12 straight games, is averaging 18.4 per outing in his last five games, and is making a strong case to be on the All-Conference Freshman squad.
Bruins Eyeing Double-Bye, Top 4 Big Ten Finish
While USC has played its way into contention for a bye in the conference tournament, UCLA is eying a double-bye that would accompany a Top 4 finish in the Big Ten regular season.
Just a month ago, the Bruins were battling it out to remain among the Top 15 in the conference and earn an invite to Indianapolis. Thanks to a seven-game winning streak, UCLA is now in the top portion of the Big Ten.
That winning streak came to a halt at Illinois on Tuesday night.
The Bruins have plenty of chances to keep moving up and knock off some of their rivals at the top over the last six games. UCLA visits Purdue at the end of the month.
The Boilermakers are currently two games north of UCLA in the standings and just a half-game out of first place. UCLA will look to start a new winning streak in a location a little south of Purdue, they will head to Bloomington next and meet Indiana on Friday night.
The struggling Hoosiers showed some fight and some life ending their losing streak with a win at Michigan State on Tuesday night. So, a potentially dangerous opponent at the tail end of a road trip that the Bruins certainly can’t afford to get swept on.
SuperWest Player of the Week: Trey Kaufman-Renn, F, Purdue
In a win over USC and a loss at Michigan, the junior averaged 23 points, 8.5 rebounds, and blocked 1.5 shots.
He did have five turnovers in falling in the matchup for the lead in the Big Ten.
SuperWest Freshman of the Week: Wesley Yates, G, USC
The redshirt freshman averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game as USC went 1-1 in a pair of games.
Yates had a career-high 30 points in the loss last Friday at Purdue.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
