The Texas A&M Aggies and USC Trojans arrive at this showdown having picked up important wins over the past week. Texas A&M struggled with Penn State but was able to pull away from the Nittany Lions in the second half. Good teams need to overcome bad patches of play against inferior teams and show them who is boss. A&M did exactly that against Penn State. USC played a very tough road game at Vanderbilt in Memorial Gym, a difficult place to win for any visiting team. The Trojans trailed in the final minute of regulation but managed to get a game-tying bucket and win in overtime. Who will prevail Sunday night in Los Angeles?
Details
Date & Time: Sunday, November 26, 10:00 PM ET
Location: Galen Center, Los Angeles, CA
Broadcast: Pac-12 Network
Reasons To Bet On The Texas A&M Aggies
The Aggies are very deep and balanced. They crushed West Virginia without two of their better players, J.J. Caldwell and Robert Williams. Other players picked up the slack, such as D.J. Hogg, Admon Gilder, and Tyler Davis. Texas A&M has size, it has length. It has power, it has speed. It has skill, it has the ability to score in the paint or from the perimeter. Defenses have a hard time focusing on the player they need to stop, and offenses can’t easily get into the paint or – once there – finish over Davis or Williams. Someone steps up every game for this team. Not all five of the foremost players will always be on top of his game, but if three of them are playing well, the other two don’t have to load up on statistics. As long as they are playing active defense, A&M can win with three players playing up to their capabilities.
In the win over Penn State, the foremost player was Gilder, who allowed just 16 points to Penn State’s leading scorer and best player, Tony Carr. Gilder ran into foul trouble in the first half, and when he sat for roughly nine minutes, Carr scored 15 points. However, when Gilder was on the floor for nearly all of the other 31 minutes in the game, Carr scored just 16. Gilder bothered him when the two went head-to-head.
If Gilder can take USC’s perimeter scorers out of the game, the Trojans will be limited in what they can do.
Reasons To Bet On The USC Trojans
USC beat Texas A&M last season, so the Trojans will be confident even though this A&M team is far better than last season’s team. USC will be at home after handling a very difficult road assignment at Vanderbilt, another team from the SEC. USC got a great game from point guard Jordan McLaughlin, which is a huge sign for the rest of the season, at least if it is any indication of how well McLaughlin will continue to play. McLaughlin – if he draws attention from defenders – has great teammates who can finish plays. Bennie Boatwright is a strong three-point shooter, while Chimezie Metu has a dazzling array of low-post moves and can hit a 15-foot jumper to keep opposing big men honest on defense. If McLaughlin is on his game, USC is unlikely to lose.
Outlook
The Aggies are coming off a relatively easy win on Friday as they topped Pepperdine by 16 points. They really haven’t had to sweat too much in any of their games. They have scored at least 72 points in every contest (scoring 81 or more in four of five) and they’ve allowed 65 or less in four of their five games. USC is a different animal, though, as they are the No. 10 team on the country. On top of that, this is a road game for Texas A&M and we all know that that ramps up the challenge significantly.
A&M has the perimeter defense to contain McLaughlin and win the big matchup in this game. Whoever controls the perimeter, especially on defense, will win, and A&M looks like the team more likely to pull that off.
Prediction: Aggies
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