NCAA Tournament: How No. 10 USC men's basketball can beat No. 7 Michigan State
The Trojans are dancing!
The 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket is out and USC received a No. 10 seed.
The Trojans have been placed in the East Region and will take on No. 7 Michigan State in a first round game in Columbus, Ohio on Friday at 9:15 am PST. The winner of the game will play the winner of No. 2 Marquette and No. 15 Vermont on Sunday.
After writing a story on what the Spartans can do to take down the Trojans, here's how USC can beat Michigan State.
WIN THE REBOUNDING BATTLE
USC isn't a great rebounding team averaging 35.29 boards per game, which ranked 150th in Division 1 during the regular season. But luckily for the Trojans, the Spartans aren't great on the glass either. MSU averaged 35.7 rebounds per game, which was 122nd in the country.
In USC's 77-72 Pac-12 Tournament defeat to Arizona State, the Sun Devils grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and scored 21 second chance points. If something similar happens against Michigan State, the Trojans will be in trouble.
PUSH THE PACE
Michigan State averages 64.9 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks 304th in the country. Of the 68 NCAA Tournament teams, Michigan State plays at the 12th slowest pace. USC plays quicker averaging 68.1 possessions per 40 minutes, which is 140th in the nation.
And they may play even faster against MSU.
After USC's practice on Monday, point guard Boogie Ellis said: "I did a bad job of walking the ball up the floor and not sprinting to the corner against Arizona State. We need to make sure we're playing a lot faster."
Look for the Trojans to try and dictate the pace of the game by speeding things up on the offensive end against the Spartans. That could prove to be a winning formula.
GET BOOGIE GOING
USC is 8-1 when Ellis, the team's leading scorer, puts in 22 or more points in a game. He averages 18.0 per game on the year. Ellis will of course need some help on the offensive end, but if he isn't scoring, the Trojans will be in trouble. Ellis has accounted for 577 of USC's 2,327 points this season, which is 24.7%. He's the Trojans' most important offensive player.
DEFEND THE THREE-POINT LINE
Michigan State was the fourth ranked team in the nation in three-point shooting percentage during the regular season at 39.5%. Senior guard Tyson Walker leads the Spartans scoring 14.6 points per game and senior forward Joey Hauser averages 14.2 points per game. Both shoot over 40% from three-point range. If USC allows those two to get open looks from deep, along with sophomore Jaden Akins, who shoots 43.6% from long range, they could be in for a long night.
RECOVER
Drew Peterson, a first team All-Pac-12 selection, has been battling a back injury over the past two weeks and it's clearly affected his play. In USC's last three games, Peterson is shooting just 23% from the field. At practice on Monday, he said he should be 100% by Friday. That would be a major boost for USC.
Freshman big man Vince Iwuchukwu is expected to be a game time decision against Michigan State, according to USC head coach Andy Enfield. He's also been dealing with a bad back. The Spartans are a guard oriented team — Iwuchukwu could give the Trojans a matchup advantage if he's able to play.
