# 2015–16 USC Trojans men's basketball team

The 2015–16 USC Trojans men's basketball team represented the University of Southern California during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by third-year head coach Andy Enfield. They played their home games at the Galen Center and were members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 21–13, 9–9 in Pac-12 play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. They defeated UCLA in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Utah. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Providence.

## Previous season

The 2014–15 USC Trojans finished the season with an overall record of 12–20, and 3–15 in the Pac-12 regular season. In the 2015 Pac-12 tournament, the Trojans defeated Arizona State, 67–64 in the first round, before losing to UCLA, 70–96 in the quarterfinal. USC became the first 12-seed to win a game in the Pac-12 Tournament.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Kahlil Dukes | 5 | G | 6'0" | 170 | Junior | Hartford, CT | Transferred to Niagara |
| Brendyn Taylor | 15 | G | 6'3" | 185 | RS Junior | Los Angeles, CA | Transferred to Santa Clara |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Shaqquan Aaron | 3 | SF | 6'7" | 170 | Freshman | Seattle, WA | Transfer from Louisville. Aaron will have to sit out the 2015–16 season under NCAA transfer rules. He will have three seasons of eligibility remaining. |

### 2015 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chimezie Metu #9 PF | Lawndale, CA | Lawndale High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | May 12, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Bennie Boatwright #20 PF | Sun Valley, CA | Village Christian Schools | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 USC Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 15, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 15, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov. 13* 5:00 pm, P12N | | San Diego | W 84–63 | 1–0 | 20 – McLaughlin | 11 – Stewart | 4 – Reinhardt | Galen Center (3,434) Los Angeles, CA |
| Nov. 16* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Monmouth AdvoCare Invitational Opening Round | W 101–90 | 2–0 | 22 – McLaughlin | 12 – Jovanovic | 8 – Jacobs | Galen Center (2,230) Los Angeles, CA |
| Nov. 21* 7:30 pm, P12N | | New Mexico | W 90–82 | 3–0 | 19 – McLaughlin | 9 – Boatwright | 6 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (2,943) Los Angeles, CA |
| Nov. 23* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Cal State Northridge | W 96–61 | 4–0 | 20 – McLaughlin | 12 – Jacobs | 8 – Jacobs | Galen Center (2,764) Los Angeles, CA |
| Nov. 26* 11:30 am, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 20 Wichita State AdvoCare Invitational Quarterfinals | W 72–69 | 5–0 | 22 – Boatwright | 11 – Jovanovic | 9 – Jacobs | HP Field House (4,629) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| Nov. 27* 11:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. No. 23 Xavier AdvoCare Invitational Semifinals | L 77–87 | 5–1 | 15 – Tied | 5 – Tied | 6 – Jacobs | HP Field House (4,170) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| Nov. 29* 9:30 am, ESPN2 | | vs. Monmouth AdvoCare Invitational 3rd place game | L 73–83 | 5–2 | 19 – Jacobs | 10 – Clark | 5 – Jacobs | HP Field House (1,631) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| Dec. 3* 7:00 pm | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 75–63 | 6–2 | 15 – Stewart | 10 – Jacobs | 7 – Reinhardt | The Thunderdome (3,585) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Dec. 7* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Idaho | W 74–55 | 7–2 | 17 – Tied | 8 – Jovanovic | 7 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (2,865) Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec. 13* 1:00 pm, P12N | | Yale | W 68–56 | 8–2 | 17 – Boatwright | 9 – Clark | 4 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (4,117) Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec. 17* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Cal Poly | W 101–82 | 9–2 | 29 – Reinhardt | 7 – Jovanovic | 13 – Jacobs | Galen Center (2,811) Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec. 21* 8:00 pm, P12N | | SIU Edwardsville | W 70–51 | 10–2 | 21 – Jovanovic | 16 – Jovanovic | 6 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (3,409) Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec. 23* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Lafayette | W 100–64 | 11–2 | 27 – Stewart | 8 – 3 Tied | 16 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (3,215) Los Angeles, CA |
| Pac-12 regular season |||||||||
| Jan. 1 6:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington State | W 90–77 | 12–2 (1–0) | 20 – Jovanovic | 12 – Jovanovic | 4 – Jacobs | Beasley Coliseum (2,314) Pullman, WA |
| Jan. 3 12:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington | L 85–87 | 12–3 (1–1) | 15 – 3 Tied | 10 – Jovanovic | 6 – McLaughlin | Alaska Airlines Arena (7,031) Seattle, WA |
| Jan. 7 7:30 pm, P12N | | Arizona State | W 85–75 | 13–3 (2–1) | 15 – Jacobs | 10 – Clark | 8 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (2,754) Los Angeles, CA |
| Jan. 9 4:00 pm, P12N | | No. 7 Arizona | W 103–101 $^{4OT}$ | 14–3 (3–1) | 27 – Stewart | 7 – Clark | 9 – Jacobs | Galen Center (6,854) Los Angeles, CA |
| Jan. 13 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at UCLA Rivalry | W 89–75 | 15–3 (4–1) | 23 – McLaughlin | 8 – Tied | 5 – Jacobs | Pauley Pavilion (12,993) Los Angeles, CA |
| Jan. 21 6:00 pm, P12N | No. 21 | at Oregon | L 81–89 | 15–4 (4–2) | 23 – Boatwright | 12 – Boatwright | 5 – Jacobs | Matthew Knight Arena (8,471) Eugene, OR |
| Jan. 24 12:00 pm, P12N | No. 21 | at Oregon State | L 70–85 | 15–5 (4–3) | 16 – Stewart | 9 – Stewart | 6 – Jacobs | Gill Coliseum (7,020) Corvallis, OR |
| Jan. 28 7:30 pm, P12N | | Washington State | W 81–71 | 16–5 (5–3) | 18 – Reinhardt | 7 – Jovanovic | 9 – Jacobs | Galen Center (4,392) Los Angeles, CA |
| Jan. 30 12:00 pm, P12N | | Washington | W 98–88 | 17–5 (6–3) | 28 – Jovanovic | 8 – Boatwright | 6 – Jacobs | Galen Center (6,387) Los Angeles, CA |
| Feb. 4 7:30 pm, P12N | | UCLA Rivalry | W 80–61 | 18–5 (7–3) | 17 – Jacobs | 6 – Tied | 10 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (10,258) Los Angeles, CA |
| Feb. 12 5:00 pm, P12N | No. 23 | at Arizona State | L 67–74 | 18–6 (7–4) | 25 – Jovanovic | 15 – Jovanovic | 6 – McLaughlin | Wells Fargo Arena (7,772) Tempe, AZ |
| Feb. 14 5:00 pm, FS1 | No. 23 | at No. 17 Arizona | L 78–86 | 18–7 (7–5) | 18 – Boatwright | 7 – Boatwright | 7 – Jacobs | McKale Center (14,644) Tucson, AZ |
| Feb. 17 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Colorado | W 79–72 | 19–7 (8–5) | 25 – McLaughlin | 6 – Jovanovic | 5 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (5,132) Los Angeles, CA |
| Feb. 21 3:00 pm, P12N | | Utah | L 69–80 | 19–8 (8–6) | 20 – McLaughlin | 6 – Boatwright | 4 – Boatwright | Galen Center (7,931) Los Angeles, CA |
| Feb. 25 8:00 pm, P12N | | at Stanford | L 64–84 | 19–9 (8–7) | 14 – Reinhardt | 5 – Tied | 4 – McLaughlin | Maples Pavilion (4,080) Stanford, CA |
| Feb. 28 5:00 pm, FS1 | | at California | L 65–87 | 19–10 (8–8) | 21 – Jovanovic | 9 – Jovanovic | 6 – Jacobs | Haas Pavilion (11,858) Berkeley, CA |
| Mar. 2 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Oregon State | W 81–70 | 20–10 (9–8) | 17 – McLaughlin | 8 – Jovanovic | 9 – McLaughlin | Galen Center (4,588) Los Angeles, CA |
| Mar. 4 1:00 pm, P12N | | No. 9 Oregon | L 66–76 | 20–11 (9–9) | 12 – Tied | 6 – Metu | 4 – Jacobs | Galen Center (6,834) Los Angeles, CA |
| Pac-12 tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 9 6:00 pm, P12N | (7) | vs. (10) UCLA First Round | W 95–71 | 21–11 | 19 – Boatwright | 11 – Metu | 9 – Jacobs | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, NV |
| Mar. 10 6:00 pm, P12N | (7) | vs. (2) No. 12 Utah Quarterfinals | L 72–80 | 21–12 | 24 – McLaughlin | 8 – Jacobs | 6 – Jacobs | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 17* 6:50 PM, TBS | (8 E) | vs. (9 E) Providence First Round | L 69–70 | 21–13 | 15 – McLaughlin | 7 – Jovanovic | 5 – McLaughlin | PNC Arena (17,387) Raleigh, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||||||

## Ranking movement

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received votes. NV = Received no votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | 21 | RV | RV | 23 | RV | RV | NV | NV | NV | N/A |
| Coaches | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | NV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | 23 | RV | RV | NV | NV | NV | NV |