LOS ANGELES _ The USC basketball team has attracted scant attention. The Trojans haven't cracked the Associated Press top 25 in weeks. Coach Andy Enfield sounded amused on a weekly teleconference earlier this week when Pac-12 reporters asked him a total of one question. For some out-of-town viewers, an early chunk of Thursday's game on Pac-12 Networks, against Oregon State, was pre-empted by the end of a volleyball game.
Meanwhile, USC quietly continues to win. A 92-66 victory over Oregon State stretched USC's winning streak to five games, tied for longest in the Pac-12 Conference.
It did so without drama. USC (21-3, 8-4 in the Pac-12) led for all but four minutes in its second-largest win of the season.
"A good all-around team effort," Enfield said.
By Thursday, USC had cruised to 20 wins despite having played just three games at full health. Forward Bennie Boatwright had missed extended time with a knee injury. When he came back, forward Charles Buggs was sidelined with a sore knee, and then guard Shaqquan Aaron injured his lower back and tailbone on a hard fall.
All three played on Thursday. USC could finally unleash its full complement of weapons against lowly Oregon State (4-21, 0-12).
No player played more than 30 minutes. The bench scored 39 points, including a big chunk from Aaron, who led all scorers with 21 points to go with six rebounds. Boatwright was next with 16 points. It went zone and man-to-man, big lineups and small.
Boatwright's presence allowed Enfield to indulge in a rare luxury: options. Several players made cameos, but none had to carry the team for prolonged stretches. Chimezie Metu executed one of the quicker post-spin-and-dunk moves either team will see all season. He scored 11 points with seven rebounds. In consecutive second-half possessions, guard Elijah Stewart made a pair of free throws, converted a steal and dunk, then made an acrobatic up-and-under layup. He finished with 14 points.
"Sometimes when you have a player out for 18 games like Bennie, it's hard to get them back into the rotation without affecting your team," Enfield said. (Boatwright has missed 17 games and 37 minutes of one more.) "Bennie, he's so skilled that he's able to let the game come to him."
"Bennie's a dangerous weapon," Aaron said. "He can score inside, outside. So it helps everyone around him."
USC's range of scoring options threatens to make it a dangerous draw in postseason tournament play. On its path there, its consistency has evidenced the program's maturation. All of USC's four losses came against teams in the top half of the conference standings. It has cleaned up against lesser competition.
The Beavers rank at the bottom of that heap. They began the season without maxing out its load of scholarship players, then endured the loss of their best player, Tres Tinkle. The result has been miserable. They haven't won since Dec. 21 , when it defeated Kent State in what turned out to be an upset.
Against USC, Oregon State scored the game's first six points, two three-pointers on its first two possessions. USC wrestled back the lead by the first television timeout and never trailed again. At one point early, the Trojans made three-pointers on four straight possessions. It made 10 of 22 on the evening.
By the late second half, USC's in-game DJ whiled away the time by engaging a fan in a dance-off on the video board.
USC will now hunt for bigger game to mount atop its resume. Its next opponent may be the biggest trophy remaining: No. 5 Oregon. The Ducks pummeled USC in an earlier meeting; Saturday's game will gauge how different USC is after Boatwright's return.
"I feel like, I still feel like, we can play with anybody in the county," Boatwright said.
