Carlson and Utah host USC

Utah Utes (15-9, 6-7 Pac-12) at USC Trojans (9-15, 3-10 Pac-12)

Los Angeles; Thursday, 11 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Utah visits the USC Trojans after Branden Carlson scored 25 points in Utah's 85-77 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Trojans are 6-5 on their home court. USC ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in team defense, allowing 75.3 points while holding opponents to 43.0% shooting.

The Utes are 6-7 against conference opponents. Utah averages 79.2 points while outscoring opponents by 6.0 points per game.

USC scores 74.4 points per game, 1.2 more points than the 73.2 Utah allows. Utah averages 79.2 points per game, 3.9 more than the 75.3 USC allows.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Boogie Ellis is averaging 16.4 points and 3.2 assists for the Trojans. DJ Rodman is averaging 9.4 points over the last 10 games for USC.

Carlson is averaging 17 points and seven rebounds for the Utes. Gabe Madsen is averaging 2.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Utah.

LAST 10 GAMES: Trojans: 2-8, averaging 69.5 points, 34.8 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 6.3 steals and 6.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.2 points per game.

Utes: 4-6, averaging 76.9 points, 38.8 rebounds, 16.8 assists, 5.4 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 77.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.