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The USC Trojans take on the Washington Huskies. Check out our college basketball odds series for our USC Washington prediction and pick.
The Washington Huskies have had their moments this year. They beat Saint Mary's and Colorado. Yet, that hardly tells the whole story with this team. Washington has also stumbled at times. The Huskies lost to Oregon State and also lost to California Baptist at home. They trailed Cal Poly for most of the game earlier in December but rallied to win at home. Washington, like USC, has played two conference games out of 20. Now comes a stretch of 18 conference games which will define the team's season. Having four losses heading into this game, Washington does not have a large margin for error.
USC doesn't have much margin for error, either. The Trojans have lost three times. Two of the losses were to good teams, Tennessee and Wisconsin, but the third loss was a disastrous season-opening face-plant against Florida Gulf Coast, a loss which could linger into Selection Sunday. USC can counterbalance that FGCU loss by putting together a strong Pac-12 season. The Trojans did beat Auburn, which is certainly important, but they will need more quality wins and the elimination of bad losses if they want to feel better about their NCAA Tournament position in a few months.
Here are the USC-Washington NCAA Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: USC-Washington Odds
USC Trojans: -2.5 (-105)
Washington Huskies: +2.5 (-115)
Over: 137.5 (-115)
Under: 137.5 (-105)
Why USC Could Cover the Spread
The Washington Huskies have been unsteady this season, including at home. If the Huskies don't play significantly better than they did against Cal Baptist and Cal Poly, it won't matter that they're playing at home. They have to be sharp enough at the offensive end of the floor to handle a USC defense which forced more than 20 turnovers in a win over Auburn and similarly bothered Colorado State's offense in a win over the Rams on December 21. Washington's loss to Oregon State showed that the Huskies' offense can easily bog down in halfcourt situations. USC plays good halfcourt defense. It is going to be a struggle for Washington to score.
The other big reason to take USC is that the Trojans are getting improved efforts from Kobe Johnson and Tre White. They are role players and not elite scorers, but when they are making hustle plays and are contributing on the glass and in halfcourt defense, the Trojans are a tougher team to beat.
Why Washington Could Cover the Spread
Washington is going to look at the stat sheet and realize that Boogie Ellis is the only USC player who has been shooting 3-pointers at a reasonably good clip.
Take a look at these stats:
USC’s roster just isn’t a good shooting roster, but Reese Dixon-Waters is more talented than a 28% shooter from three. Oziyah Sellers and Malik Thomas are good shooter but younger players who need more of an opportunity to show their shooting ability. https://t.co/jtdcy7ZA6U
— Sean Paul (@SeanPaulCBB) December 30, 2022
Washington can use its zone defense under coach Mike Hopkins to give USC plenty of problems. The Trojans play good defense but can run into real roadblocks on offense. The Trojans' limitations emerge most clearly when they are in a close, tense, physical game. Who gets to the basket for them and makes free throws? Who gets into takeover mode and can overcome a shooting slump or a scoring drought? Ellis is the best answer, but if Washington takes him away, can USC adjust? It's unclear.
Final USC-Washington Prediction & Pick
You should stay away from this game. Neither Washington nor USC should be fully trusted. We just haven't seen these teams play enough to feel we can firmly predict how they will react under pressure, in what is likely to be a close game.
Final USC-Washington Prediction & Pick: USC -2.5
