The USC Trojans and the Auburn Tigers meet in college basketball action from the Neville Arena on Sunday. Can USC get their first road win of the year? Or will Auburn end up staying unbeaten? Let’s dive in and give out a USC vs. Auburn Prediction.
USC Team Preview
The USC Trojans come into this one looking to rebound from back-to-back losses after an 84-79 OT loss to Long Beach State last time out. Boogie Ellis leads the Trojans in scoring with 21.4 PPG along with 4.3 RPG and 3.4 APG while Isaiah Collier has 17 PPG with a team-high 4.2 APG to lead the Trojans in assists. Kobe Johnson has 12.3 PPG with 5 RPG and 3 APG to lead the Trojans on the glass while rounding out the trio of double-digit scorers for USC so far this season. Vincent Iwuchukwu also has 5 RPG as well on the year. As a team, USC is averaging 78.9 PPG on 45.9% shooting from the field, 34.9% from three and 70.8% from the foul line this season. USC will stay on the road after this one as they’ll face Alabama State, Oregon, and Oregon State.
Auburn Team Preview
The Auburn Tigers come into this one looking to build on back-to-back wins after an 87-62 win over UNC-Asheville last time out. Johni Broome leads the Tigers in scoring and rebounding with 15.1 PPG and 8.6 RPG while Aden Holloway has 11.7 PPG with a team-high 3.3 APG to lead the Tigers in the assist department as the only other double-digit scorer for Auburn up to this point in the year. Jaylin Williams has 9.6 PPG with 5.6 RPG as well on the year. As a team, Auburn is averaging 82.3 PPG on 45.9% shooting from the field, 32.5% from three and 71.9% from the foul line this season. Auburn is 7-2 in the SEC, where five more teams have seven wins, including Missouri.
USC vs. Auburn Prediction
I’m siding with Auburn here. The Tigers are the much better team in this matchup in my opinion, and USC has really struggled against highly-ranked teams this season, but in their last three games against top-60 KenPom teams, USC has gotten beat up in all of them and I look for it to happen again here. The Tigers have the talent and the size to blow past USC here who has yet to come into their own this season. Give me Auburn.
