IU basketball game day essentials: Indiana back at home against USC

Game Day Essentials:

Indiana (12-3, 2-1) vs. Southern California (9-5, 1-2)

• Tip Time:  7 p.m. Eastern, Wednesday
• Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222),  Bloomington, Ind.
• Television: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel)
• Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
• Stream: Fox Sports
• Point Spread:  Indiana is a 6.5-point favorite
• KenPom Projected Score:  Indiana 78  USC 71
• History: Series tied, 2-2.
• Last Meeting: IU 85, USC 60 on March 18, 1974, in St. Louis
• Tickets (via our StubHub affiliate link)

USC’s Eric Musselman

Eric Musselman is in his first year as head coach of the USC men’s basketball program. He was hired on April 4th, 2024, and is the 19th coach in program history. Musselman has over 34 years of basketball coaching experience across different ranks.

Musselman has an extensive coaching career in both the NBA and the NCAA. He most recently served as the head coach of Arkansas. In five seasons, he led the Razorbacks to an overall record of 111-59 and appeared in three NCAA Tournaments. His best season came in the 2020-21 season when the Razorbacks finished second in the SEC and appeared in the Elite Eight.

Musselman also had an impressive four-year stint at Nevada before coaching at Arkansas. He finished with a 110-34 overall record in four seasons with three Mountain West championships and a conference tournament championship. In three consecutive seasons from 2016-19, the Wolf Pack appeared in the NCAA Tournament, with their best finish coming in 2018 with a Sweet 16 appearance.

Before his collegiate coaching, Musselman spent most of his time in the pro ranks as an assistant and head coach in the NBA and the G-League. Most notably, he was the head coach of the Golden State Warriors from 2002-04, and for the Sacramento Kings in 2006-07.

USC’s results and roster:

USC’s game notes (via USC Athletics)

QUICK FACTS

• USC is currently 1-0 on the road  in Big Ten play. If the Trojans win this game against Indiana, Coach Musselman will be just the second first-year coach since 1949 to grab two road conference wins to start the season.
• In just their fourth Big Ten game of the season, USC will play their third opponent that has been mentioned in the AP Top 25 Poll. The Trojans played Oregon when they were ranked 12th and played Michigan on Sunday when they were still receiving votes.
• USC has maintained a 4-1 record over the last five games, maintaining an offensive rating of 119.0 and a defensive rating of 93.2 during that time.
• Wesley Yates III has been hot as of late. Since becoming a starter over the last five games, he has averaged 12.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

SHARING IS CARING

• When it comes to distributing the ball, the Trojans dish out assists. Of the shots the Trojans make, 60.8 percent of those shots are assisted. According to CBB Analytics, this puts the Trojans in the 92nd percentile for this stat. In KenPom’s calculation of this same stat, the Trojans are 27th in the NCAA and fourth in the Big Ten.
• Individually, Saint Thomas has been a big part of the equation. He ranks ninth in the Big Ten Conference when it comes to assists as he leads the Trojans with 60. Thomas is also 13th in the Big Ten when it comes to assist rate, which is calculated by the number of assists a player has divided by the team’s made field goals. For Thomas, he currently boasts a 24.8 assist rate.

THE BEST OF BUZO

• Chibuzo Agbo is second on the team in points as he currently has 170 this season. Agbo is also crucial to the team from beyond the arc. When he makes at least one three-pointer in a game, the team has a 9-3 record. When Agbo doesn’t make a three, the team is 0-2. The Trojans are also 7-1 when Agbo scores more than 10 points.
• As if this wasn’t enough, Agbo is also an asset from the charity stripe. Over the last five games, he has maintained a free throw percentage of 95.7 percent. He is currently 26th in the NCAA and fourth in the Big Ten for his free throw percentage this season, which sits at 91.3 percent.
• Agbo also knows how to take care of the ball. Of all his possessions, he only turns over the ball eight percent of the time. This ranks in the 91st percentile out of all Division I men’s basketball players.

DES DRAWS

• When it comes to making it to the free throw line, Desmond Claude has made it to the line the most on USC’s team. He draws an average of 6.8 fouls per game, the ninth-most in the Big Ten. During the team’s game against CSUN, he tied his season-high of nine made free throws on 10 attempts. He also had stellar performances from the charity stripe came against Washington when he made nine of his 11 attempts. He also has almost double the number of free throws as the next Trojan as he sits at 88 attempts this year.
• He is one of the best in the Big Ten when it comes to drawing fouls. His free throw rate sits at 68.5, which is the second-best in the Big Ten. The only player who ranks higher than him is Oumar Ballo of Indiana, who he will face this week.

USC’s KenPom notable numbers:

(out of 364 teams)

Tempo – No. 175 (Offense No. 185 / Defense No. 166)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 97

• The Trojans have a low 3-point attempt rates compared to Division 1 at 32.9 percent (No. 320). Their point distribution from beyond the arc is also low at 24.7 percent (No. 325). As a team, they shoot 34.2 percent on 3s (No. 132).
• Their overall effective field goal percentage stands at 53.1 percent (No. 92). They shoot decently well on 2s (53.9 percent, No. 105).
• One area of struggle is gaining offensive rebounds, as USC has just a 26.6 rate on the year (No. 273).
• Their assist rate is also fairly high (60.8 percent, No. 27).
• USC gets to the free throw line a lot.  Free throw attempts are 40.8% (No. 35) of field goal attempts.  They make 75.2% at the stripe, No. 82.

Defensive Efficiency – No. 82

• USC holds opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 49.4 percent (No. 134). Teams are shooting 32.2 percent on 3-pointers (No. 129) and 50.1 percent on 2s (No. 148) against the Trojans.
• The Trojans generate a good amount of turnovers at a 20 percent rate (No. 65).
• Teams are getting to the free throw line at a 35.2 percent rate (FTA/FGA, No. 229). Opponents are generating 20.9 percent of their points from the free throw line (No. 88).
• Opponents are assisting on 59.1% of made field goals, No. 319.

OG’s Pick

Win/Loss Record: 10-3

Shame on me, Hoosier fans. The Cathedral of basketball brings out the best of teams I guess.

On to the next one. USC is on their first year with Eric Musselman, and haven’t necessarily had any shocking results up to this point. They’re more of an inside focused squad this year with a very low attempt rate on their 3-pointers. However, they haven’t had to face a disrupter like Oumar Ballo up to this point.

I think Indiana finishes this one comfortably. USC hasn’t shown any impressive offensive outputs up to this point, and IU has shown some improvement over the last few games.

PICK: Indiana 79 – USC 66

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