Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
USC Trojans (13-6) vs. Arizona State Sun Devils (15-4)
The 2022-23 NCAA men’s basketball season continues Saturday, January 21, with the USC Trojans squaring off against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Pac-12 Conference battle at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
The tip-off is set for 10:00 PM ET, and USC eyes its sixth consecutive victory over Arizona State. The Trojans open as 3.5-point road underdogs with a total of 138.5 points, so let’s take a closer look.
The USC Trojans (13-6; 10-9 ATS; 5-3 conf.) are coming off Thursday’s 81-66 defeat at the No. 11 Arizona Wildcats. It was their third straight loss on the road and the third in the last five games overall. The Trojans trailed the Wildcats from start to finish and by as many as 21 points, making just 36.9% of their field goals (4-for-17 from deep) and 66.7% from the foul line (14-for-21).
USC posted a poor 7/12 assist-to-turnover ratio against Arizona’s shaky defense. Senior guard Drew Peterson led the way for the Trojans with 15 points, seven rebounds, and a couple of assists and steals, while fellow senior G Boogie Ellis went 2-for-11 from the field and finished with 11 points, four rebounds, two dishes, and three steals. This duo tallies 29.1 points and 7.3 assists per game in 2022-23.
Tonight's @PechangaCasino starting lineup at Arizona:
G @Drewpeterson23
G @BoogieEllis
G @iamkobejohnson
G @TreWhite19
F Joshua Morgan pic.twitter.com/TWZpZgCejM
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 20, 2023
The Trojans rank 79th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency (109.6 points per 100 possessions) and 44th in adjusted defensive efficiency (96.6). They make just 5.5 triples per game (336th in the country) on a 31.4 percentage clip (303rd). USC’s defense is second in 2-point percentage (41.5%) and 216th in 3-point percentage (33.8%). The Trojans are No. 70 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 63 in the KenPom rankings.