USC Trojans vs Washington State Cougars Prediction, 1/1/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: USC Trojans vs Washington State Cougars

Date: Sunday, January 1, 2023

Location: Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, WA

TV: Youtube TV

Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum is the site where the Washington State Cougars (5-8) will compete against the USC Trojans (10-3) on Sunday.

The USC Trojans took the court against Colorado State and walked away with a win by a score of 73-64 in their last game. In the matter of personal fouls, the Trojans finished with 18 and Colorado State totaled 20 personal fouls. They also made 5 out of their 27 tries from long range. Colorado State finished the game shooting 82.6% at the free throw line by knocking down 19 of 23 attempts. In addition, Colorado State grabbed 23 rebounds (4 offensive, 19 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Colorado State earned 16 assists and had 10 steals in the matchup. When discussing the defense, USC allowed the other team to shoot 37.7% from the field on 20 of 53 shooting. They also dished out 16 assists in this contest while forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and having 9 steals. Regarding rebounding, they compiled a total of 37 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Trojans converted 12 of their 19 attempts for a percentage of 63.2%. USC ended the contest with a 53.1% field goal percentage (26 out of 49) and converted 9 out of their 19 shots from 3-point land.

Boogie Ellis is one guy who was a major contributor in this game. He finished shooting 50.0% from the floor and also dished out 2 assists. He played 32 minutes and snagged 3 rebounds. He recorded 19 points on 7 of 14 shooting.

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USC will play this contest with a record of 10-3 this year. They are losing possession via turnover 14.2 times per contest and as a team they commit 16.5 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, USC is grabbing 35.2 rebounds per game and has accounted for 191 assists on the season, which ranks 136th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. The Trojans are hitting 33.3% on shots from downtown (79 of 237) and 70.3% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 71.8 points per outing (184th in college hoops) while hitting 46.3% from the field.

Defensively, the Trojans have forced 13.4 turnovers per contest while drawing 18.6 fouls. They concede 31.4% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 103rd in college basketball in opponents PPG (65.5). The Trojans defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 38.0% (297 of 782) and they surrender 36.7 rebounds per game as a team. They rank 178th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 164 surrendered so far this year.

The last time they took the court, the Washington State Cougars took a loss by a score of 82-73 against Utah State. The Cougars recorded 19 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 26 for the game. They also turned the ball over 13 times, while recording 5 steals for the contest. Utah State committed 21 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Cougars to the charity stripe for 26 tries. They were able to convert 23 of the free throws for a rate of 88.5%. In the matter of shooting from beyond the arc, Washington State converted 2 of 17 attempts (11.8%). In all, the Cougars finished the game shooting 24 out of 54 from the field which had them shooting 44.4%. The Cougars permitted Utah State to bury 32 of their 53 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 60.4% in this game. They finished shooting 64.7% from behind the 3-point line via 11 of 17 and walked away from this one shooting 7 of 15 from the free throw line (46.7%). Concerning how they attacked the glass, Washington State allowed Utah State to get 24 in total (5 on the offensive side).

Mouhamed Gueye was important for the Cougars in this matchup. He earned 22 points in his 38 mins on the court and had 1 assist in the game. He converted 9 out of 15 for this game for a rate of 60.0%, and accounted for 12 rebounds.

Washington State has a mark of 5-8 for the season. The Cougars commit 16.8 fouls per contest while shooting 72.4% from the charity stripe. Their rate of earning assists is at 11.4 times per game (323rd in the nation) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 13.9 times per contest. Washington State has accounted for 893 points this year (68.7 per game) and they snag 35.0 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Cougars are shooting 43.7% from the floor, which ranks 231st in the nation.

The Cougars on defense are ranked 93rd in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 65.2. They have forced 11.3 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.0% from the field (322nd in D-1). The Washington State defense allows 31.9% on 3-point attempts (69 of 216) and their opponents are knocking down 64.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 12.1 assists and 29.2 boards per contest, which is 150th and 7th in the country.

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Washington State

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