Arizona State vs #17 USC

Arizona State vs #17 USC | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

Written by on February 16, 2021

The best team in the Pac-12 pretty appears to be 17th-ranked Southern Cal and the Trojans are battling their city rivals UCLA and perhaps Oregon for the regular-season league title. USC should have little trouble on Wednesday as a solid favorite on the NCAAB odds vs. Arizona State.

How to Bet Arizona State at USC NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

  • When: Wednesday, 8 PM ET
  • Where: Galen Center
  • TV: ESPN2
  • Stream: ESPN app
  • Radio:com
  • Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA (USC will be favored)

Last Meeting

On Jan. 9, USC won 73-64 at Arizona State. Trojans freshman sensation Evan Mobley had 19 points and 13 rebounds. The 7-foot Mobley finished 5-of-7 shooting and had a career-high six blocks. Tahj Eaddy scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and grabbed nine rebounds and Isaiah Mobley — Evan’s older brother — added 13 points and 10 rebounds for USC. Arizona State was without guards Remy Martin and Jaelen House as well as forwards Jalen Graham and Taeshon Cherry for various reasons.

Why Bet on Arizona State? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

ASU (7-9) was a 75-73 winner over Oregon State on Sunday. Oregon State’s Ethan Thompson made the first of two free throws with 13 seconds left to bring the Beavers within 73-71. Rodrigue Andela secured the offensive rebound and threw it out to Thompson, but a heads-up steal by Jalen House forced a tie-up between Holland Woods and Thompson and the possession arrow favored Arizona State. Woods sank a pair of fouls shots with five seconds to go.

ASU took advantage of 15 Oregon State turnovers in outscoring the Beavers 26-2 in points off turnovers and 18-0 in fast break points and ran its Tempe win streak over Oregon State to a dozen.

With the win, head coach Bobby Hurley hit the century mark in victories as the Sun Devils’ coach. Hurley is 100-78 in six seasons at ASU. The Sun Devils were down starters and top freshmen Marcus Bagley (ankle) and Josh Christopher (back) and used their eighth starting lineup in 16 games and with only one player on the team who has now played in every game.

Remy Martin led the Sun Devils with 23 points, as ASU scored 26 points off 18 Beaver turnovers and collected nine steals. Martin has 1,583 career points and 437 assists. The only other Sun Devil who reached those combined marks is Tra Holder, who had 1,797 points and 448 career assists.

Sophomore Jalen Graham collected his second double-double and matched career highs in points (14) and rebounds (11) while Alonzo Verge Jr. added 15 points and Holland Woods 10, including two free throws to seal the win with under 10 seconds remaining.

Christopher — the second-best freshman scorer in the Pac-12 entering the weekend – had been the only Sun Devil to start in all 15 games and is averaging 14.3 ppg while shooting .800 (44-of-55) from the free throw line. He may be able to play Wednesday. Ditto Bagley.

Graham went from Dec. 17 to Jan. 21 without playing (35 days) due to opponent COVID protocols (Incarnate Word/Utah), ASU COVID protocols (at Washington/Washington State) and then mononucleosis (UCLA/USC).

Why Bet on USC? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

Southern Cal (17-3) won its sixth in a row Saturday, 76-65 at Washington State. The Cougars were 3 of 25 on 3s against the Trojans, who went on a 13-2 run late in the second half to close out the game. USC has held its last three opponents to 65 points or under.

Tahj Eaddy scored a season high 29 points, and freshman sensation Evan Mobley had 20 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots in USC’s 10th straight victory over the Cougars. The last time USC started a season 17-3 was the 1992 season.

“Some years, a game like this might have slipped away, but our players, No. 1 they have to defend. I thought after we called that timeout, the last four and a half minutes our defense was outstanding. And you have to make your free throws, which we did,” Coach Andy Enfield said. “We’re very happy with the road sweep of the Washington schools, both teams played well against us.”

Mobley notched his ninth double-double of the season and sixth 20+ point performance. He is averaging 3.3 blocks per game, 6th in the country and first among freshmen. Mobley already ranks third on USC’s all-time freshman blocks list (63) and 9th on the school’s all-time top 10 list for a single season. USC’s +8.6 rebound margin ranks 15th in the country.

USC has a +12.2 scoring margin which is second among Pac-12 teams. It is also USC’s biggest average scoring margin in a season since the 1970-71 team went 24-2 and defeated opponents by an average of 14.0 points per game. USC has held its opponents to 38.1 percent shooting this season, sixth-best in the country. Stanford’s 51.9 percent shooting against USC on Feb. 2 was the only time this season a Trojan opponent shot over 50 percent.

USC grad transfer forward Chevez Goodwin has been a very valuable addition to the Trojan squad.  In 15.4 minutes off the bench per game, he has averaged 6.5 points and 4.1 rebounds. Goodwin has scored in double figures four times with a best of 12 this season and has had 10 games with at least five rebounds.

Expert College Basketball Prediction

USC 79, Arizona State 68

 
 

I have read enough, I need to place my bet now. What to do?

Bet College Basketball Today
MyBookie Odds for the Games
 
 

College Basketball Betting Center


NCAA Basketball Betting Odds | Betting Lines