USC basketball: Trojans’ unexpected winning streak shouldn’t be threatened by Las Vegas Classic lineup

Fourth-year USC basketball Coach Andy Enfield readily cites statistics about his roster’s youth down to two decimals. After four transfers and two early draft declarees last summer, he says his players now average 1.09 years of experience, which ranks 328th out of the nation’s 351 teams.

He cites a source, too: kenpom.com, an enormous statistical archive run by a Utah meteorologist. But, of course, the most important metric right now is 11-0, the No. 23 Trojans’ unexpected record so far this season. Their undefeated streak should not be seriously threatened this week by the lackluster lineup at the Las Vegas Classic, but Pac-12 play looms beyond games against Missouri State and either DePaul or Wyoming.

“We’ll concentrate on that after Christmas,” Enfield said. “But, right now, we’re such a young team, we can’t take any game for granted, as you’ve seen. We’re so streaky, especially without [Bennie] Boatwright, because he’s an experienced player. When we go into those droughts, his size, we have to mix and match our lineups. Some guys play out of position, and sometimes we have to play more zone or man.”

Boatwright, a forward expected to be USC’s top scorer, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee early in a Nov. 30 victory over San Diego. The next day, Enfield announced the player would take approximately six weeks to recover, but that figure has since changed.

“Six weeks is extremely optimistic,” Enfield said Tuesday. “I think it’s longer than that.”

Asked for an updated estimate, Enfield said the team is hoping to have him back by the second half of Pac-12 play, which begins Feb. 1 — nine weeks from the date of the injury. While stressing no setbacks have occurred, Enfield said Boatwright could remain out longer.

That the Trojans have remained undefeated without him is their chief achievement.

“We’ve improved from last season,” Enfield said. “Even though we’re young and inexperienced, our players are pretty good.”

The teams they have beaten, not so much. Collectively, the 11 teams to lose to the Trojans are 57-49 in their other games. Soon, their schedule gets tougher, with a road trip to Oregon State and Oregon not a week away, on Dec. 28 and 30.

“The Pac-12 did not do us any favors with that scheduling,” Enfield said. “They gave us a Wednesday and Friday on the road, which is the worst possible scheduling you can have.”

To combat that, out-of-town players will leave Las Vegas on Saturday to spend Christmas home and return to Los Angeles on Monday. The team leaves for Oregon the following day.

Until then, there’s Missouri State, none of whose starters surpass 6-9 in height. USC has become experienced with such an opponent; the Trojans just beat an even-smaller Cornell roster Monday.

“It makes us a lot more patient, because we know we have to expose their disadvantage and use it to our advantage,” said sophomore forward Chimezie Metu, one of USC’s two 6-11 starters. “We know we have to try to get the ball inside or just expose wherever the mismatch it.”

Metu noted the Trojans played more similarly-sized teams during non-conference play last season.

“This year, we played a lot more guard-oriented teams,” Metu said. The guys are not as big. Usually, one through five, the biggest guy’s like 6-7, 6-6. It’s been a bit of an adjustment.”

UP NEXT FOR USC

vs. MISSOURI STATE

When: 8 p.m. Thursday.

Where: Orleans Arena (Las Vegas)

On the air: TV: Fox Sports 1; Radio 710.

Update: Missouri State is 8-3 this season, with two of their losses by close margins. Two of the Bears’ top three scorers, Ronnie Rousseau III and Dequon Miller, are listed at 5-10. Both are junior college transfers. So is their other top scorer, forward Alize Johnson, who, at 6-9, is Missouri State’s tallest rotation player. He transferred, too.

The team once ranked within the top 100 on the USA Today Sagarin ratings, but has since fallen. The Bears now rate 118th.

Wyoming, whom the Trojans could face Friday if both teams win, is the highest-rated team in the tournament.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura