The Crosstown Showdown – UCLA Vs USC Preview And Game Information
I fully expect to hear the chants “Just like football” from the large contingent of UCLA fans that will invade USC‘s Galen Center on Wednesday night. Because USC focuses all their efforts on the football team, the rest of their sports suffer, especially basketball. The closest they ever come to selling out the Galen Center is when they play UCLA and that is only because Bruin fans come in droves due to the fact that they actually care about their basketball team.
UCLA Bruins
Records:
UCLA Bruins (10-7, 2-2)
USC Trojans (9-7, 1-3)
Tip-Off: 6:00 p.m. PT
Location: Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA
Tickets: USCTrojans.com
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KLAC AM 570 (Los Angeles)
On-line: TuneIn
Betting Line: UCLA -3.5
Projected Starting Line-ups:
UCLA – Bryce Alford, Norman Powell, Isaac Hamilton, Kevon Looney, Tony Parker
USC – Katin Reinhardt, Julian Jacobs, Malik Marquetti, Malik Martin, Nikola Jovanovic
Preview: I’ll give USC this, they are better than they were a year ago. The awkward thing is that UCLA is worse off than they were a year ago, so the Trojans might actually have a chance in this game. But let us be real, a bad UCLA basketball team is still better than a good USC basketball team. That is what happens when their athletic department puts all their efforts into football (which was still not as good as UCLA’s this season).
Mar 21, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and guard Norman Powell (4) react as they head to the locker room after the first half of a men
But let us be real. Both UCLA and USC basketball teams are quite similar. Both had a decent non-conference schedule where they beat the teams they were suppose to beat and lost to the teams they were suppose to lose to.
The difference with that is UCLA actually put up a fight against the teams they lost to, Kentucky notwithstanding. USC has had several bad losses to schools that the average basketball fan would not know had teams. Portland State, Akron and Army are not really known for their basketball prowess, yet each had their way against the Trojans.
UCLA has had their troubles this season, yet in the last two games against Stanford and Cal, the Bruins seemed to find their confidence, shot and all-around talent. Though USC wrecked Cal like the Bruins did and barely lost to Stanford by two, they present a problem for UCLA.
Jan 2, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes guard Brandon Taylor (11) defends against USC Trojans guard Jordan McLaughlin (11) during the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Reinhardt and Jovanovic should be the biggest focus for the Bruins as they are two of the top three scorers. Yet the player that they have to keep an eye on is true freshman Jordan McLaughlin who is the Trojans leading scorer with 12.8 points per game. In the last game he car off the bench as he missed a series of games due to a shoulder injury, but do not expect that to slow him down.
Still, UCLA has to stick to the game plan that has been working for them in the last two games: get the team involved, go to the low-post and do not have Bryce Alford take too many shots. That is a recipe for a win right there.