The UCLA Bruins and the USC Trojans basketball teams will battle each other Friday, Saturday and Monday. The women will play Friday night and Monday night. The men will clash on Saturday afternoon. All three Pac-12 games will have league implications.

The women’s game on Friday will start at 8 p.m. and will be played at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. Their Monday contest will be play at the Galen Center on the USC campus at 6 p.m.

The men’s game will start at 3 p.m. and UCLA will be the host site for this cross town rival game that promises to be one of the top college games played this weekend. The Trojans are 17-6 overall and 8-2 in the Pac-12 and the Bruins are 15-7 and 6-4 in the Pac-12. The Trojans have won six games in a row and the Bruins are currently on a two game winning streak.

Both of the men’s teams know this game has local, Pac-12 and national implications. Both teams realize they need to win games to get higher seeds in the Pac-12 tournament and qualify for the NCAA tournament.

USC’s men’s team is a game out of first place in the Pac-12. “It doesn’t matter who you are playing or where you are playing,” said USC head coach Andy Enfield last week. “The Pac-12 is excellent from top to bottom and any team can beat another team on any given night. Our league is extremely deep and we don’t take anything for granted.”

The Trojan men are led by Chimezie Metu from Lawndale high school, Bennie Boatwright, Jordam McLaughlin, Elijah Stewart and Jonah Mathews from Santa Monica high school. Other Trojans to watch are Nick Rakocevic, Shaqquan Aaron, Jordan Usher and Deyrryck.

The UCLA men are led by Aaron Holiday. Thomas Welsh, Kris Wilkes, Prince Ali and Jaylen Hands. Other players that will see action for the Bruins are Gyorgy Goloman, Alex Olesinski and Chris Smith.

“When we get stops defensively that puts us in position to make plays,” said Welsh last week. “Our defense will determine how fall this team can go. We have to be ready to play USC because they are a great team.”

The UCLA women will rely on the play of Jordin Canada, Kennedy Burke, Keli Hayes and Monique Billings. The Bruins are 17-4 overall and 8-2 in the Pac-12.

The USC women are led by Kristen Simon, Aliyah Mazych, Minyon Moore and Sadie Edwards. The Trojans are 15-6 overall and 5-5 in the Pac-12.