USC Men's Basketball Kicks Off The TIAA Big Ten Tournament Against Rutgers

INDIANAPOLIS – USC Men's Basketball (15-16, 7-13 Big Ten) comes into the TIAA Big Ten Men's Basketball tournament as the No. 14 seed. During the first round of the tournament on Wednesday, March 12, the Trojans will take on the 11th seed in Rutgers University. These two teams faced each other earlier this season in New Brunswick when the Scarlet Knights came out with the 10-point victory.

SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

The Scarlet Knights ended the regular season winning three of their last five games, including a 95-85 victory over the Trojans on Feb. 23 and an overtime victory over Minnesota at home to lock in the 12th seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Rutgers finished with a 15-16 overall record and 8-12 in Big Ten conference play. The Scarlet Knights are 1-4 this season when playing at neutral sites. Rutgers is also 0-10 when scoring less than 75 points against Big Ten programs.
Rutgers has struggled to impose on both ends of the floor. The Scarlet Knights average only 12.6 assists per game and allow 76.9 points per game. Rutgers has also struggled at shooting the ball this season, shooting at 44.7 percent from the field as a team.
Freshman guard Dylan Harper has been instrumental for the Scarlet Knights this season. In the previous matchup between the two programs, Harper scored 25 points and added nine assists against USC. Harper's 537 regular season points are the most for any Rutgers player since 2006. The 6-foot-6 guard is one of four players in the entire nation to record a triple-double this season - scoring 16 points, collecting 11 rebounds, and adding 12 assists against Columbia on Dec. 30. He ranks in the Top 10 in the Big Ten in field goals (185), points (537), points per game (19.2), and steals per game (1.4).
Forward Ace Bailey has also been dominating as a freshman. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 17.6 points per game during the regular season while attempting nearly 15 field goals per game - both ranking Top 10 in the Big Ten Conference. Bailey also ranks in the Top 10 among all conference players in rebounding (7.1 per game) and blocks (1.2 per game). The Tennessee native has also accumulated seven double-doubles this season.

THE RETURN TO GAINBRIDGE FIELDHOUSE
The Trojans have played in this arena before, and that was back during the 2021 NCAA Tournament. USC played two games in this arena, formerly known as Bankers Life Fieldhouse. With those games, the Trojans are 2-0 on this court after they took down Drake and Oregon to move onto the West Region final.

PLAYOFF TROJANS
When looking at how USC has done in previous conference tournaments, they have won the last five of their first-round games that they played in, including an 80-74 win over Washington in the team's final Pac-12 Tournament appearance last season.

WHEREABOUTS
The first game of the tournament will take place on Wednesday, March 12. Tip-off between the Trojans and the Scarlet Knights will be roughly around 5:30 p.m. PT depending on the timing of earlier games. For those who can't make it to Indianapolis to watch the game, they can watch on Peacock or listen through ESPN LA 710.

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