Adam Grosbard (OC Register)  —  LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team lifted a great weight off its shoulders Saturday with its 67-64 win over UCLA. The victory proved the Trojans could compete with the country’s best, even without leading scorer Isaiah Mobley, and moved USC up four spots in the AP poll to No. 17.

But Thursday’s home game against Washington (13-10, 8-5 in Pac-12) presents a different kind of challenge for USC (21-4, 10-4): getting up and motivated for a game that is not a premier matchup.

It’s not that the Huskies are slouches. At fifth place in the Pac-12, Washington deserves to be taken seriously, especially with guard Terrell Brown Jr. averaging 25.5 points over the past six games.

It’s just that this season, USC has not treated every game equally. Take the two close calls against 8-15 Arizona State, or last week’s six-point win over Pacific.

Early in the season, there was a sense USC was ahead of last year’s Elite Eight team in terms of chemistry. But midway through February, point guard and captain Ethan Anderson was unsure the Trojans were keeping pace with last year’s team in terms of consistency.

“This year, we lack urgency against every team we play. We go away from our identity from game to game,” Anderson said last week prior to the UCLA game. “And I know 100 percent when we play a big game against a team that’s ranked above us or expected to beat us, our guys are going to bring it. But we don’t really stay consistent with that approach to every single game.”

That was why the Pacific game left USC with such a sour taste in its mouth: The Trojans knew this had been a problem, and had a chance against a nonconference opponent to put it in the past, only to be trailing deep into the second half.

“We don’t come out with that same fire, that same focus,” Anderson said. “So this year we have shown clips where our chemistry is amazing, we’ve shown clips where it looks terrible. So right now we’re focused on getting it consistent. Once we get to that level, I think we can compete with anybody in the country, we can beat anybody in the country.”

Since the win over UCLA, guard Drew Peterson (13) has noticed an increase in the team’s morale at practice. And there is momentum toward Mobley’s return against Washington, with the power forward participating in shooting and non-contact drills Tuesday.

That would be a big development for USC, as would a full, 40-minute performance against the Huskies.

“I think we just need to get everyone on the same page and just focus on winning,” Trojans forward Chevez Goodwin said last week. “I think everybody focuses on different stuff that doesn’t really matter as a team. I think we just need to go out there and focus on winning as a team.”

WASHINGTON AT NO. 17 USC

When: Thursday, 8:30 p.m.

Where: Galen Center

TV/Radio: Pac-12 Network / 790 AM

ocregister.com

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