USC Men's Basketball Continues With Big Ten Play At Home Against Iowa

LOS ANGELES – USC Men's Basketball (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) returns to the Galen Center with some momentum after a big win on the road in Champaign, Illinois. Now, they look to secure their first Big Ten win on their home court as they take on the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, who have yet to win a game on the road this season.

LAST TIME OUT
The Trojans wrapped up their time in the Midwest with a tough opponent in No. 13 Illinois. This game started in favor of the Illini, but it didn't take long for the Trojans to get hot. Even though USC was down by two at the half, they only stayed down for five minutes. Desmond Claude lit up for the second half when he scored 21 points to push the Trojans ahead of the Illini. This led to USC securing the 82-72 win over Illinois, which is the first time the Trojans have defeated a ranked opponent on the road since 2010.

Claude shined for the Trojans as he finished the game with a season-high 31 points to go along with three assists and 100 percent shooting from the charity stripe. Wesley Yates III and Rashaun Agee were also crucial pieces to the Trojans' win as they notched 15 and 13 points, respectively. Agee and Saint Thomas crashed the boards the hardest for USC as they each grabbed eight rebounds.

SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES

Iowa has been one of the best offensive teams in the country. They rank highly in the NCAA in numerous stat categories including being third in effective field goal percentage (59.2 percent), sixth in field goal percentage (50.9 percent), second in scoring offense (89.6) and 14th in three-point field goal percentage (39.5 percent).
Senior guard Drew Thelwell has been crucial to what Iowa does on the court. He is fifth in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio, which sits at 4.00, and is 24th in steals as he averages 2.3 per game. He is also one of four players to average double-digit points as he snags 10.2 points per game.
Senior forward Payton Sandfort is a force to be reckoned with. He is the best shooter in the Big Ten from three as he averages 2.7 three-pointers per game. He also leads the Hawkeyes in scoring as he averages 16.9 points per game. As if that wasn't enough, he has made it to the free throw line the most for Iowa this season. He has made 51 of his 58 free throw attempts, which comes out to an 87.9 free throw percentage.
Sophomore forward Owen Freeman has been crucial for the Hawkeyes this season. He leads the team in rebounds as he averages 6.7 per game. Not only that, but he is second on the team in scoring as he is averaging 16.6 points per game.
Only two players have started all 16 games for the Hawkeyes this season, and that is Sandfort and sophomore guard Brock Harding. Both Freeman and junior guard Josh Dix have started in every game they have played in.
The Hawkeyes lost both games they played on the road this year. Those losses came during Big Ten play against Michigan and Wisconsin.

DES DOMINATES
Desmond Claude has been instrumental for the Trojans over the last five games, as shown above. His 19.8 points per game average is in the 99th percentile in the NCAA according to CBB Analytics. He is coming off his best game of the season against No. 13 Illinois, where he scored a season-high 31 points. With his assists added in, Claude contributed to 39 of the team's 82 points in this game.

YATES THE GREAT
Since Wesley Yates III has stepped into a starting role, he has stepped up big for the Trojans which has landed him Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week honors. Since becoming a starter, Yates has averaged 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Along with that, he is shooting at a 49.3 percent clip from the field.

AN ELITE THREE
The trio of Chibuzo Agbo, Desmond Claude and Saint Thomas has been great for the Trojans. They maintain an offensive rating of 117.6 and a field goal percentage of 49.0 percent, which is better than 75 percent of their peers. These three also dominate in the paint as they have a combined 60.7 shooting percentage from that range.

WHEREABOUTS
USC will take the court in the Galen Center against Iowa at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14. For those who can't make it to the Galen Center, they can watch all the action on FS1 or listen on ESPN LA 710.

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Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

Rashaun Agee

Desmond Claude

Saint Thomas

Wesley Yates III