It’s an opening round matchup of the Battle 4 Atlantis when a member of the WCC takes on the Pac-12 on the college hardwood down on an island paradise. The BYU Cougars are the “road” team as they take on the USC Trojans Wednesday afternoon. BYU comes in off an 87-73 home victory over Nicholls State in their most recent contest Saturday night. USC downed Mount St. Mary’s 83-74 at home in their most recent game Friday night though they failed to cover the 16-point line. In the all-time series between the teams, the Trojans own a 7-3 advantage and have won the last four meetings. That includes a 79-53 win at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut in the most recent meeting on December 1, 2020.
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BYU won their second straight game as they knocked off Nicholls State at home Saturday in their most recent contest. The Cougars improved to 3-1 on the season with the victory and try to make it three straight triumphs by prevailing here. Against Nicholls State, BYU struggled for most of the first half and trailed 40-37 at intermission. The Cougars still trailed by two with 16:26 to play before going on an 11-0 run that put them up 56-47 with 14:27 to go. BYU didn’t let the Colonels closer than three the rest of the way. The Cougars shot 48.4% from the field, including eight of 33 from three-point range, and dominated the glass by a 54-31 margin. Foussenyi Traore (eight rebounds) and Gideon George (10 boards) each had 15 points to lead BYU in the win.
The Cougars are putting up 72 points a game so far this season, putting them 209th in the nation in scoring offense. BYU is grabbing 43.8 boards per game (21st) and dishes out an average of 12 assists a night. The Cougars are average on the defensive end as they are 184th in the nation with 68.8 points per game allowed this year. Foussenyi Traore leads the team this season as he puts up 12.5 points plus seven rebounds per contest. Spencer Johnson (11.3 points, 5.3 rebounds) and Gideon George (10.5 points, 8.3 rebounds) are solid secondary scorers. Rudi Williams, Noah Waterman, Jaxson Robinson, Atiki Ally Atiki, Richie Saunders, Dallin Hall and Trey Stewart are all key contributors for coach Mark Pope. BYU shoots 43.3% from the floor as a team. The Cougars sink 7.3 three-pointers per game while shooting 29% from downtown. BYU is struggling so far at the free throw line, sinking just 64.6% of their chances this season.