The USC Trojans breezed past Eastern Washington on Wednesday night. Now comes one of the big moments of this college basketball season: a date with the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Gonzaga is synonymous with college basketball excellence. The Zags haven’t won a national championship, but they have reached two national championship games and have been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament several times in recent years. They have established a very high standard USC would love to match. Gonzaga hasn’t done everything, but it has done almost everything in major college basketball. That alone makes this game important for USC.
Beyond the “status symbol” elements of this game, beating Gonzaga would give USC a high-quality win and significantly boost the Trojans’ resume. The Men of Troy need that after the losses to Irvine and Oklahoma.
This game is also important because Isaiah Collier needs the kind of moment which stamps himself not just as the leader of this team, but a leader who can be fully trusted and relied on. Collier, if he masters this game against Gonzaga, will grow in influence and confidence. USC really needs Collier to become the alpha male star who can take over games and carry the Trojans in important moments this season.
The Gonzaga game could be the man-making moment for Collier and the Trojans.
We have much more on this game in the coming days and then after the game ends on Saturday night.
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