Colorado Buffaloes vs USC Trojans Prediction, 2/17/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Colorado Buffaloes vs USC Trojans

Date: Saturday, February 17, 2024

Location: Galen Center in Los Angeles, CA

TV: ESPN

The USC Trojans (9-15) will go up against the Colorado Buffaloes (16-8) at Galen Center on Saturday.

The Colorado Buffaloes played Arizona and went home with a loss by a final score of 99-79 in their last contest. When discussing personal fouls, the Buffaloes walked away with 17 and Arizona finished the game with 23 personal fouls. They also made 10 of their 22 attempts from downtown. Arizona walked away from this one shooting 81.0% when shooting free throws by burying 17 of their 21 tries. Furthermore, Arizona pulled down 29 rebounds (9 offensive, 20 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Arizona doled out 14 assists and had 10 steals for the matchup. When discussing defense, Colorado allowed their opponent to shoot 52.9% from the field on 36 out of 68 shooting. They also doled out 12 assists in the matchup in addition to creating 8 turnovers and having 6 steals. With regard to grabbing rebounds, they earned 27 with 6 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the free throw line, the Buffaloes converted 22 of their 26 tries for a percentage of 84.6%. Colorado finished having earned a 48.1% FG percentage (26 out of 54) and converted 5 of their 17 3-point attempts.

Tristan Da Silva is one guy who was a contributor in the matchup. He walked away from this one shooting 61.5% from the floor but didn't record a dime. He played for 38 mins played and also collected 3 rebounds. He accumulated 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

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Colorado steps onto the hardwood with a mark of 16-8 for the year. They are averaging 80.7 points per contest (39th in Division 1) while connecting on 49.2% from the field. The Buffaloes are hitting 38.7% on shots from downtown (159 of 411) and 79.3% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Colorado is collecting 37.6 boards per contest and has tallied 385 assists on the campaign, which is 51st in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They turn the ball over 13.2 times per game and as a group are committing 15.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

When they are on defense, the Buffaloes are able to force 11.7 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.0 personal fouls. They are surrendering 33.9% on 3-point attempts and they are 199th in D-1 in PPG allowed (72.3). The Buffaloes are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 43.8% (629 of 1,437) and they concede 30.1 rebounds per game as a unit. They are currently ranked 34th in the country in giving up assists with 263 relinquished this year.

For their last game, the USC Trojans went home defeated by a final of 99-68 when they played Stanford. In regard to how they cleaned up the glass, USC allowed Stanford to collect 39 in all (9 offensive). They finished 50.0% from 3-point land by connecting on 19 of 38 and finished the game at 8 out of 10 at the free throw line (80.0%). The Trojans permitted Stanford to convert 36 out of their 64 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 56.3% in this contest. When the game finished, the Trojans ended up going 26 out of 58 from the field which gave them a percentage of 44.8%. When discussing shots from 3-point land, USC converted 6 out of their 20 attempts (30.0%). They were able to knock down 10 of the free throw tries for a clip of 47.6%. Stanford had 13 fouls for this game which took the Trojans to the free throw line for a total of 21 attempts. They also turned it over 12 times, while recording 6 steals in this contest. The Trojans snagged 18 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards totaling 23 in this contest.

Isaiah Collier ended up being a factor for the Trojans in this game. He had 18 points in his 30 minutes on the hardwood and had 3 assists for the game. He buried 4 of 8 in this matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, and had 4 rebounds.

USC has a record of 9-15 this season. The Trojans are committing 16.7 fouls per contest while shooting 68.9% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 15.7 times per game (46th in college basketball) and they turn it over 13.0 times per game. USC has scored 1,785 pts on the year (74.4 per game) and they pull down 35.7 rebounds per game. As an offensive team, the Trojans are hitting on 44.7% from the field, which ranks them 183rd in the nation.

The Trojans on the defensive end are ranked 280th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 75.3. They are forcing 13.0 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 43.0% from the floor (152nd in college basketball). The USC defense allows 37.0% on three-point shots (213 of 576) and opponents are connecting on 73.4% of their free throw shots. They allow 15.8 dimes and 36.6 boards per contest, which has them ranked 348th and 273rd in the country.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Colorado

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