UCLA Basketball Vs. USC: TV Schedule, Game Info, Odds And Preview
January 5, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans forward Nikola Jovanovic (32) moves to the basket against the UCLA Bruins during the first half at Pauley Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The UCLA Bruins (17-5, 6-3) look to get back on the winning track after another horrible game on the back end of a Pac-12 road trip. But what timing! Their next game is against the USC Trojans (10-12, 1-8) and what better way to bounce back than to play the last place team in the conference.
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Location: Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA
Tip-Off: 7:30 a.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET
Odds: UCLA -8.5
Ticket Information: usctrojans.com/tickets/usc-tickets.html
Preview: So how do we start this preview? Do we use popular hashtags like #WOTT to show dominance? Do we harp on cross-sport rivalries and lash out with ‘Just Like Football’? No, we will simply show some numbers…
1-10.
That is USC’s record in the Pac-12 this season and it all started with a 107-73 demolishing by UCLA. The conference opener for both teams took place at Pauley Pavilion and turned out to be heavily advantageous for the home team. Nothing went well for USC.
Fortunately for the Trojans, this game is at the Galen Center.
So what is there to be afraid of in this rematch? Well…
-USC’s only win in conference was at home to third place Pac-12 team, Cal.
-USC has two players pulling down more than 6 rebounds per game, UCLA only has one.
-UCLA’s big men may have big games, but they are horrible inconsistent, which USC could take advantage of.
-UCLA’s record playing away from Pauley is 2-2 in conference and 4-4 overall.
-This is a rivalry game.
That last tidbit may be the single most important thing the Bruins need to focus on. The Trojans, albeit the worst team in the Pac-12, will definitely remember the first clash between these two, and really, nobody wants to be remembered that way.
Byron Wesley is clearly the Trojans best player. He is averaging the most points on the team with 16.9. The more remarkable stat is the 6.8 rebounds he is getting, which is more than his 7’2” center, Captain Omar Oraby (he is getting 6.5 rpg).
And even though we did not see much of it in the first game, Wesley has some help getting points from J.T. Terrell and Pe’Shon Howard who are getting 10.4 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. These are very athletic kids who could easily burn UCLA, especially the way the Bruins have been playing defense lately.
But then you look at USC’s shooting percentage of .449 (147th in the nation). Well, think of it like this, if USC is given a lot of chances to score, then they will beat UCLA, which is not that far-fetched of an idea.
UCLA is been brilliant on defense and they have also been down right lousy. In their last game against Oregon State, UCLA let the Beavers into the lanes uncontested too many times and it does not look like it is stopping anytime soon. In addition to that, head coach Steve Alford appears void of a back-up plans when things go wrong for the Bruins. Simply put, he is being out-coached and needs to fix it. It is too close to tournament season.
Despite all that, the Bruins should win, but it will be a little bit closer than the last game.
Prediction: UCLA 83 – USC 58
Mike W.R.
Twitter: @TheBigDisco