Nebraska men’s basketball heads west for its final road trip of the season with games in the Los Angeles area.
Saturday, the Huskers tip off from USC’s Galen Center at 3:10 p.m. CT.
Big Ten Network will televise the game with Guy Haberman and Don MacLean on the call, while the Huskers Radio Network will carry the radio broadcast with Kent Pavelka and Jeff Smith.
Should the Huskers win on Saturday, it would set another single-season program record. Their 13th conference win on Wednesday, in Lincoln, over Maryland, tied the Nebraska single-season record.
The Trojans are 18-10 overall and 7-10 in Big Ten play. They have lost four straight games and are 3-5 in their league home games.
The Huskers are unbeaten at the Galen Center (2-0), though USC leads the all-time series 6-5.
Resume Building Trip
A five-day road trip to Los Angeles with games at USC Saturday and UCLA Tuesday is another opportunity for the team to pick up two quality road wins as the regular season comes to a close.
“I think our team’s really close already, and it’s not like we necessarily need the bonding,” Sam Hoiberg said. “I do think it’s going to be fun to be able to get out there and be with the guys. We haven’t really had that yet, so it’s going to be really fun.”
It won’t be all fun in the sun for the Huskers. They are fully aware that the Trojans and Bruins are not going to be easy outs.
“We’ve got two chances to pick up really good wins and keep adding to our resume,” Hoiberg said. “I’m really looking forward to that. And you for sure can have some fun memories from it.”
The maturity of this Husker team has been on full display this season. The Huskers are very connected on and off the court and have been all season. The extended road trip is an opportunity for the team to get even more connected.
“It’s a great bonding opportunity for our guys at the end of the year,” Fred Hoiberg said. “Spend a lot of time with each other. We’ll have some activities for them when we’re on the road to keep them occupied. It’s a great time, really, to make sure we’re 100% together as we finish off our season.”
Scouting USC
USC is fighting for its NCAA Tournament life. The Trojans need a big win in the worst way as they currently sit on the wrong side of the bubble after the four-game losing skid.
“It’s an unbelievably talented roster … it’s a very well-coached team with (Eric Musselman), I think as talented as any team in the league,” Fred Hoiberg said of the Trojans.
USC’s most prolific scorer, 6-foot-5 junior Rodney Rice, only played in nine games this season before a shoulder injury on Nov. 25th against Seton Hall sidelined him for the rest of the season.
“Not having Rodney Rice’s shooting is killing us,” Musselman said after Tuesday’s 81-62 loss at UCLA. “It kills our spacing, it kills all of the help to the ball … To run our offense without a guy like him is problematic for sure.”
Alijah Arenas, a 6-foot-6 freshman and the son of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas, is one of the players who has been called on to fill the void from Rice’s injury this season. In his seven games, the former five-star recruit who missed the start of the season because of a car accident, is averaging 13.9 points but shooting just 33% from the field and 21.7% from 3-point range.
Chad Baker-Mazara, a 6-foot-7 sixth-year senior, has filled the scoring and, more importantly, the shooting void for the Trojans. His 18.6 scoring average leads the team, as does his 38% shooting from distance. Baker-Mazara has been dealing with a right knee injury and has been day-to-day since the injury on Feb. 5 versus Indiana.
The Trojans’ 32.6% ranks 250th in 3-point shooting nationally. It’s 51.9% on 2-point field goals is 176th in the country.
Turnovers have hurt USC this season. The Trojans’ 12.8 per game average is last in the Big Ten. Its 17.6 turnover percentage is 244th nationally.
Keys To the Game
Yes, a road win is difficult to come by in any league, let alone the Big Ten, but Nebraska should be almost a double-digit favorite Saturday against the Trojans.
The first key is for Nebraska to win the turnover battle, something the Huskers normally do.
USC’s defensive turnover rate is 16.7%, good for just 138th nationally. Nebraska’s offensive turnover rate is 13.9%, or 22nd best in the country. The Huskers force a turnover by their opponents 19.2% of the time, 51st nationally.
The second key is winning at the 3-point line.
Opponents have only shoot 30.3% against USC this season (23rd in the nation), but the Trojans are only 243rd in 3-point rate allowed as 41.4% of their opponents’ attempts come from deep. If Nebraska — with the eighth-highest 3-point rate in the country at 51.4% — executes offensively, the looks should be there for its snipers. Nebraska is shooting a respectable 35.7% from 3, good for 78th nationally.
Rebounding will once again be a major area of focus for Nebraska. USC is fourth in the Big Ten with 37.1 rebounds per game. There are two reasons for the Trojans’ success as a rebounding team. First, they don’t make a lot of shots on the offensive end and their 3-point defense allows for longer misses. The second is their size and length as their 79.1-inch average height is sixth best in the nation.
If the Huskers can be within the Trojans’ plus-3.7 average rebounding margin, or even keep the gap to eight or less, they should be fine.
