The USC Trojans had a rough week, losing to both Oregon schools and proceeding to fall out of the NCAA Tournament in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology.
The loss to the Ducks is understandable, but losing to the Beavers is not, and that loss could be a significant blow to their NCAA Tournament hopes.
However, there is good news: USC gets the perfect opportunity to bounce back with a game against Cal on Thursday at the Galen Center.
USC beat the Golden Bears way back on November 30 in a 66-51 final, and Cal has just three wins in the entire season.
Cal hasn’t even won a game since January 6, and the Golden Bears are dead-last in the Pac-12 in what has been a rough year for the Golden Bears.
Cal has scored 50 or more points in just two of the last six games, although the Bears have back-to-back games with 60 or more points and lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils by only eight in overtime on Saturday.
USC needs to find a way to score more, especially with Reese Dixon-Waters and Joshua Morgan on the shelf. Vince Iwuchukwu emerged against the Beavers, and it will be interesting to see how Andy Enfield manages the bench going forward.
One would think that against Cal, USC should be able to get a big lead and rest the starters for Saturday’s tougher game against Stanford while also giving bench players needed minutes so that they can improve.
The Trojans need this win in the worst way, especially with a rough ending schedule consisting of the dreaded Mountain road swing and then the Arizona schools.
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