Oregon State Beavers (8-4) vs USC Trojans (6-6)
2023-12-30 22:00:00 EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Oregon State Beavers +8 -- Over/Under: 141.5
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The USC Trojans and the Oregon State Beavers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Gill Coliseum. USC is fresh off a Thursday matchup versus Oregon. In that one the Trojans took an eight-point loss to fall to .500 through 12 games. As for the 8-4 Beavers, they played UCLA in their Thursday game. Oregon State went on to lose by seven points. Let’s get into our USC vs. Oregon State prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
USC Trojans
The Trojans managed a 6-5 run over their first 11 games this year, with five of the victories coming in the first seven games versus Kansas State, CSU Bakersfield, Brown, Seton Hall and Eastern Washington. The losses otherwise came versus UC Irvine, Oklahoma, Gonzaga, Long Beach State and Auburn.
In their Thursday game versus Oregon, the Trojans were drilled 42-25 in the first half. USC got better from there with a 49-40 run but still lost 82-74. Leading the team in the losing effort were DJ Rodman and Joshua Morgan, each with 14 points and a combined 11 rebounds with three assists.
Oregon State Beavers
Over on the Beavers’ side, they hit a .500 run over their first six games with wins over Linfield College, Troy and Appalachian State before losses to Nebraska, Baylor and Pittsburgh. After that came a five-game win streak featuring victories versus UC Davis, Cal Poly, Utah Valley, UTSA and Idaho State.
Matched up against UCLA on Thursday, the Beavers managed a 28-24 edge by the break. Oregon State couldn’t hold it in the second half though, getting outscored 45-34 from there in a 69-62 defeat. Leading the team was Dexter Akanno with 22 points and three rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE USC VS OREGON STATE PREDICTION
I’ll probably stick with Oregon State in this one. The Beavers need a return to form after a sketchy matchup with UCLA in their last outing, though. In that one Oregon State shot a decent 44.0 percent from the field with 42.9 percent from 3-point range. That said, the Beavers also got out-rebounded 34-33 (13-8 offensive), had just eight assists and coughed up 14 turnovers. Oregon State had 70 or more points in four of five games prior to that, however (with one overtime).
As for USC, they had a rough first half against a good Oregon team in their latest outing but didn’t end up playing too badly outside of 46.2 percent shooting allowed and 13 turnovers. Saturday’s matchup should be a fun one, but ultimately I think the Beavers can cover.
