Pac-10 Conference Semifinals
USC Trojans vs Arizona Wildcats
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
Friday, March 11, 2011, 9:00 pm Eastern, TV: Fox Sports Net
Opening Line: Arizona -1
Current Line: USC -1
Opening Total: 132
Current Total: 132
Money Line: USC -120 / Arizona +100
USC might have played their way into the NCAA tournament with their 70-56 win over California in the Pac-10 quarterfinals. The Trojans have won 6 of their last 7 games to get into bubble contention. USC is 19-13 overall and finished 10-8 in the regular season in the Pac-10. USC next plays #1 seed Arizona in the semifinals. Arizona beat Oregon St yesterday 78-69 to improve to 26-6 on the season. The Wildcats won the Pac-10 regular season title with a 14-4 record. They are ranked #15 or #16 in the country depending on which poll you look at. These two teams split the regular season series with each team winning on their home court. Arizona won in Tucson January 29 82-73 and USC won in Los Angeles February 24 65-57.
Arizona leads the overall series against USC 57-40. Arizona has won 18 of the last 28 games in the series. Arizona is 3-0 versus USC in Pac-10 tournament games. Arizona is 4-2 ATS in the last 6 against USC. Four of those six games have gone over the total.
USC guard Bryce Jones has left the team. He was averaging 7.6 points a game. Junior Forward Nikola Vucevic leads the team in scoring with 17.3 points, rebounding with 10.1 a game, and blocks with 1.3 a game. He also averages 1.5 assists a game. Junior guard Jio Fontan averages 10.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 4 assists a game to lead the team. He missed the 1st 9 games of the season. Maurice Jones averages 10.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.1 steals a game to lead the team. Donte Smith averages 10 points a game, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists a game. Alex Stepheson averages 10 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks a game. USC is outscoring opponents 67-63 on the season. They shoot 44.3% from the field and 36% from 3-point range. USC opponents are shooting 41.1% from the field. The Trojans make 65.5% of their free throws. They average 34.1 rebounds and have a rebounding margin of +1.3. The Trojans average 12 assists and 11.4 turnovers a game. They force 12.1 turnovers a game on defense. USC averages 6 steals and 2.9 blocks a game.
Arizona has no significant injuries right now. Arizona sophomore forward Derrick Williams is a candidate for Pac-10 player of the year. He leads the Wildcats in almost every statistical category except assists. He is averaging 18.9 points a game, 8.1 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal and 0.7 blocks a game. Though he doesn’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers he has shot 63% from behind the arc. Guard Lamont Jones averages 9.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists a game. Guard Kyle Fogg is averaging 8.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists to lead the team and 0.9 steals a game. Forward Solomon Hill averages 7.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 0.8 steals a game. Arizona is outscoring opponents 77-67 this season. The Wildcats are shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.1% from 3-point range. Arizona opponents are shooting 44.1% from the field. The ‘Cats make 75.1% of their free throws. Arizona averages 34.8 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +4.5. Arizona averages 14.2 assists and 13.2 turnovers a game. They force 12.8 turnovers a game on defense. Arizona averages 2.7 blocks and 5.2 steals a game.
USC is playing their best basketball of the season and picked the right time to do it. They just beat Arizona a couple of weeks ago at home. In that game Derrick Williams played with a finger injury, and was just getting used to the splint and his shooting touch was off . He was 3 for 11 from the field and only scored 8 points, his lowest scoring output of the season. This game should come down to the wire.
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