USC is winning basketball games, but isn’t really winning over the fans

Twenty minutes after USC’s game with UCLA had concluded, Chimezie Metu could still hear the thrum of the crowd from a room nuzzled away from the Galen Center floor.

It was hard to tell which was more unusual: That USC had just defeated the Bruins for the fourth straight game, or that it had done so in front of a sold-out arena.

“It was great,” Metu said, a little wistfully. “I just kind of wish it was like that every game.”

USC, 20-4 overall and 7-4 in Pac-12 Conference play, hasn’t seen a season like this in 25 years, when it also started 20-4 in 1992. Attendance at the spacious Galen Center should be surging.

It hasn’t. Last season, USC averaged 6,124 spectators at home conference games. Despite the success, average attendance has actually tumbled a bit through this season’s first five conference games, to 5,548. It is a small sample size, but the set has included two traditionally strong draws, UCLA and Arizona.

USC’s overall attendance ranks 10th in the Pac-12, ahead of only Stanford and Washington State. And its game on Thursday against bottom-dwelling Oregon State (4-20, 0-11) isn’t expected to set any attendance records.

USC wins. It plays fast. It makes highlight-reel dunks. Where are the fans?

“I’m not sure,” point guard Jordan McLaughlin said. “It’s just up to the fans. We bring an exciting, fun style of basketball to L.A.”

The games, he added, are “fun for those who come out.”

The usual caveats apply. Weekday traffic makes it difficult to get to the Galen Center. Television saturation has eaten into attendance across many sports and many cities. USC has always been football crazy, with much less built-in fervor for basketball.

So what will it take for USC to consistently fill Galen Center?

“Another UCLA game,” guard Jonah Mathews said Wednesday after practice.

When he finished chuckling, Mathews expressed confidence that USC fans will turn out for other high-profile opponents, such as No. 5 Oregon on Saturday.

“We get more wins, people will come more,” he said.

USC finished its first road sweep of Coach Andy Enfield’s tenure last weekend. Yet, during a Tuesday conference call with Pac-12 reporters, Enfield was asked one question.

“Under the radar,” he quipped. “The way we like it.”

Full strength?

The flight back from Pullman, Wash., was a happy one for USC, except for one player.

“I had to sit like this,” guard Shaqquan Aaron said, jerking his torso to one side.

Aaron injured his lower back and tailbone after a hard fall during USC’s win over Washington State.

But Aaron was back at practice Wednesday.

“I’m going to be ready to go,” he said.

For one of the few times this season, USC could be at full strength. Forward Charles Buggs, who has missed the last four games with a knee injury, said he also expected to play.

NEXT UP

USC AT OREGON STATE

When: 8 p.m. Thursday.

Where: Galen Center.

On the air: TV: Pac-12 Networks; Radio: 710.

Update: USC owns the longest active winning streak in the Pac-12, four games. Forward Bennie Boatwright, who last week made his first appearance in two months after recovering from a knee injury, was crucial in a comeback win over Washington. Boatwright averaged 18 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists over the weekend, and his minutes are expected to increase as his conditioning improves. … Oregon State has been adrift since losing its best player, forward Tres Tinkle, because of a broken bone in his wrist. In his absence, guard Stephen Thompson Jr. has paced the Beavers with an average of 16.9 points per game.

zach.helfand@latimes.com

Follow Zach Helfand on Twitter @zhelfand