The USC Trojans and the Washington Huskies meet Saturday in college basketball action from Hec Edmundson Pavilion. USC is fresh off a Thursday game versus Washington State. In that one the 11-17 Trojans took a close loss. As for Washington, they played UCLA in their last game. The Huskies ended up winning to improve to 16-13 so far. Let’s get into our USC vs. Washington prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
USC Trojans
The Trojans managed an 8-7 record to start the year, but they haven’t been above .500 since then. USC would lose six in a row before finally getting another victory over Oregon State. In the next five, the Trojans went 2-3 with losses to California, Stanford and Colorado.
In their Thursday game versus Washington State, the Trojans held a four-point edge going into the second half. USC faltered from there on a 40-33 run however and lost 75-72. Isaiah Collier was tops in scoring with his 24 points, four rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes of work.
Washington Huskies
Over on the Huskies’ side, they posted a 12-9 run over their first 21 outings of the year. Washington went just 3-4 in their next seven however, beating Oregon State, Stanford and Arizona State. The losses came versus Washington State, Oregon, California and Arizona otherwise.
Matched up against UCLA on Thursday, the Huskies jumped out to a 44-35 edge by the break. Washington kept it up in the second with a 50-42 run for a 94-77 victory in the end. Lead scorer Keion Brooks put up 32 points with five rebounds and 6-of-7 from 3-point range in the win.
ANDREW’S FREE USC VS WASHINGTON PREDICTION
I’ll lean toward the Huskies in this one, but you could probably call it either way. Washington didn’t have a ton of issues with UCLA in their last game. The Huskies hit 55.6 percent from the field with 62.5 percent from 3-point range and a 35-29 rebounding edge. That makes 75 or more points in five straight games, a 3-2 record for Washington.
As for USC, they posted a strong effort against a great Washington State team on Thursday. The 3-point shooting (2-of-10) ultimately fell short but the overall shooting (51.9 percent) was solid. I could see USC following along in this one but I think Washington pulls off the cover at home.