Oregon Ducks (14-6) vs. USC Trojans (8-12)
February 1, 2024 10:30 pm EDT
The Line: USC Trojans +1; Over/Under: 152
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The Oregon Ducks and the USC Trojans meet Thursday in college basketball action from Galen Center. Oregon enters this one at 14-6 overall after a loss to Arizona on Saturday. As for USC, they’re coming off a loss to UCLA that dropped the Trojans to 8-12 so far. Let’s get into our Oregon vs. USC prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Oregon Ducks
The Ducks only lost three of their first 16 games this year. Those defeats came courtesy of Santa Clara, Alabama and Syracuse. Oregon is a much-sketchier 1-3 since then however, with a win over Arizona State among three losses to Colorado, Utah and Arizona in that time.
Matched up against Arizona on Saturday, the Ducks were down by seven points heading into the second half. Oregon was outscored 42-40 from there in an eventual loss 87-78. Jermaine Couisnard led the team in the losing effort with 20 points, four rebounds and five assists.
USC Trojans
Over on the USC side, they lost to UC Irvine, Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Long Beach State, Auburn, Oregon and Oregon State in their first 15 outings. The Trojans have been on a five-game losing streak versus Washington State, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA since then.
In the UCLA game over the weekend, the Trojans took an 11-point deficit into the locker room. USC was outscored 28-24 from there and lost 65-50 in the end. None of the scorers finished in double-figures, but Oziyah Sellers came off the bench to post 10 points and an assist in 20 minutes.
ANDREW’S FREE OREGON VS USC PREDICTION
I’ll stick with Oregon. The Ducks have had some tricky matchups lately, and this is a good opportunity for them to get back on track. Oregon shot decently (44.8 percent) against Arizona in their last outing but also coughed up 14 turnovers that led to 17 Wildcats points. Still, the Ducks should have no issues scoring here; they’ve hit 70 or more points in seven straight games—four of those being on the road.
As for USC, it’s hard to imagine they’ll be able to generate enough offense to keep pace here. The Trojans have been below 68 points in all five games of this current losing streak, but the good news is that they were able to get within an 82-74 finish the last time these teams met back on December 28. I don’t think USC will win on Thursday in the rematch, even at Galen Center.
