Stage is set
For the second time this season, USC will take on #20 Purdue.
In the first matchup, Purdue's offense exploded, beating the Trojans 90-72, despite shooting just 6 of 26 from three.
USC won its first tournament as part of the Big Ten Tournament in dramatic fashion, going to double-overtime against Rutgers. USC pulled away in the final overtime, knocking off the Scarlet Knights, 97-89.
Purdue is very familiar with USC's iron man on the night. True freshman Wesley Yates III helped seal things late for USC against Rutgers on his way to scoring 24 points on just 10 shot attempts. Yates III was excellent against Purdue in the first matchup. Yates scored a career-high 30 points against the Boilers in the only match up of the season.
Less familiar to Purdue fans will be USC's best player against Rutgers, Desmond Claude, who led the game with 28 points on just 13 shot attempts. Claude, who was injured and missed USC's first game against Purdue, got to the line 15 times against Rutgers.
Trojan stamina
It's going to be a quick turnaround for USC. After playing the final game of the night on Wednesday, it'll have to be back and playing at 9:00 pm on Thursday.
USC used the regular season as a playground for a deep rotation, but on Wednesday night, head coach Eric Musselman played just seven guys significant minutes.
The Trojans' entire starting lineup played at least 41 minutes.
Freshman Yates played all 50 minutes against Rutgers. Starting center, Rashaun Agee played 48 minutes. Desmond Claude played 46 minutes.
The three starters and most significant players for Musselman will now have to try to rest, recouperate, and prepare for Purdue in less than 24 hours while Purdue hasn't stepped on a court since Friday night in Champaign.
Inside out
Purdue's offense worked inside out against USC in the first matchup between the teams. Purdue struggled from the three-point line, making just 6 of 26 points and still got to 90 points despite just two Boilers getting into double-figures in scoring.
Braden Smith had a quiet scoring night with 9 points, but was excellent distrubuting and carving up USC's defense with 13 assists.
Trey Kaufman-Renn was the star though and USC had no answers for the big man. TKR scored 24 points in 30 minutes while getting to the line 9 times and making 8 of 12 from the floor. Purdue was 27-40 inside the arc against the Trojans.
Purdue also won the battle of the glass, getting 17 offensive rebounds and out rebounded the Trojans by 17 rebounds in total.
Trojans a team of free throws
USC got to the line 31 times against Rutgers, and it was a similar story for the Trojans in Mackey Arena. As USC struggled to make a shot on the floor, 4 of 26 from three, it was able to get to the line against Purdue.
6 Boilers had 3 or more fouls and USC shot 29 free throw attempts in the game. That's a concern for a team like Purdue that has functionally just two big men, and has struggeld to keep them on the floor at times.
Will a USC team without fresh legs still be able to challenge Purdue off the dribble? Purdue's defense has been inconsistent according to Matt Painter before today's practice before he knew which team it'd be taking on. He's hoping the win or go home nature of the tournament will help inspire Purdue's focus and attention to detail on defense.
Michigan awaits
Whoever wins Thursday night won't have the same mystery about who will be waiting for them on Friday. Michigan looms in the next round, as both a dangerous team and an opportunity. USC would have to win the Big Ten Tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament, but if Purdue can pick up the win against USC, it'll get a chance to help its seeding in the NCAA Tournament by knocking off another team that's vying for anywhere between a 3-5 seed.
