USC Men's Basketball Hits The Road To Play Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. – The USC Men's Basketball team (14-14, 6-11 Big Ten) will hit the road as they head into the final three games of the regular season. This time, they are headed north as they prepare to play at the University of Oregon. These two teams played each other earlier in the season in the Galen Center. During that meeting, the Ducks came out with the 68-60 win over the Trojans.

LAST TIME OUT
USC returned home after a week-long trip on the East Coast to face Ohio State. The Buckeyes came out hot, shooting at 73.1 percent to go 52-38 in the first half. That's when USC picked up the pace. The Trojans' defense halted Ohio State's efforts while the offense heated up, which caused USC to close the 17-point gap between them and the Buckeyes. With just a minute left, the Trojans tried to gain control of the game, but the Buckeyes weren't having it. By the final buzzer, USC could not grab the lead as they lost to Ohio State 87-82.

Wesley Yates III led the scoring for the Trojans for the third time in four games as he secured 27 on the night. Three other Trojans also landed in the double-digits against the Buckeyes, and they were Chibuzo Agbo (17), Desmond Claude (12) and Rashaun Agee (12). Saint Thomas also led USC in various categories, grabbing five rebounds and five assists.

SCOUTING THE DUCKS

Oregon comes into Saturday on a four-game winning streak, sitting in eighth in the Big Ten standings. The Ducks are 20-8 overall and 9-8 in conference play this season, including a 68-60 win over the Trojans in December. The Ducks are 10-4 on the year when playing at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks are a force off the bench as they average 23.5 bench points per game. Oregon is 11-0 when scoring 80-plus points in a game. They have also proven to be an outside threat on both offense and defense. Oregon makes nearly eight three pointers per game while holding opponents to 31.8 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Senior center Nate Bittle holds down the front court for the Ducks. He is averaging 13.3 points on 50.7 percent shooting this year. He ranks second among all Big Ten players in both total blocks (58) and blocks per contest (2.1). The 7-footer is averaging 7.1 rebounds and 5.3 defensive rebounds per game - both ranking in the Top 10 among all Big Ten players.
Sophomore guard Jackson Shelstad is averaging 15.4 points per game in Big Ten play this season. He is also averaging 32.7 minutes per game - the 10th highest mark in the Big Ten. Shelstad has proven to be a force on the perimeter this season as he is averaging 1.9 three-pointers per contest. Shelstad notably scored 24 points against USC earlier this season.
Senior guard TJ Bamba is leading the Ducks' backcourt on defense, as he is averaging nearly two steals per contest this season, which is the fourth-highest mark in the Big Ten. Averaging 10.2 points per game, the Washington State and Villanova transfer is struggling from behind the three-point line as he is only averaging 19 percent shooting from behind the arc in conference play.

IN THE PAINT
The Trojans took 51.1 percent of their shots from the paint. Of those shots, they find the most success within 4.5 feet of the rim as they make 67.8 percent of the shots they put up in that range. Overall, the Trojans are shooting at 58.2 percent from inside the paint.

ROAD SNIPERS
When it comes to shooting on the road, USC's Wesley Yates III, Saint Thomas and Desmond Claude seem to have a better shot. Yates falls into this category as he is shooting at 52.8 percent away from the Galen Center compared to his 49.1 field goal percentage at home. Thomas has also shot better on the road this season, shooting at 50.7 percent compared to his home field goal percentage of 44.3 percent. Claude rounds out this list as he is shooting at a 51.8 percent clip on the road compared to a 50.3 percent clip at home.

WHEREABOUTS
This game between the Trojans and the Ducks will take place on Saturday, March 1, at 1 p.m. For those who can't make it to Eugene, they can watch on the Big Ten Network or listen on ESPN LA 710.

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Players Mentioned

Chibuzo Agbo

Rashaun Agee

Desmond Claude

Saint Thomas

Wesley Yates III