Southern California heads to College Park, Md., on Thursday to visit No. 20 Maryland, one of the hottest offensive teams in the nation.
The Terrapins (20-6, 10-5 Big Ten) have won three straight and seven of their last eight, most recently a 101-75 rout of visiting Iowa on Sunday. The blowout, which included a 54-24 Terrapins scoring advantage in the second half, reflected the balance that has made Maryland one of the nation’s most effective offensive teams all season.
Five Terps scored at least 16 points against the Hawkeyes, led by Ja’Kobi Gillespie’s 26 on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor. At 14.7 points per game, Gillespie is one of five Maryland players averaging at least 12 points per game.
Rodney Rice (13.4 ppg) recorded 18 against Iowa. He credited the Terps’ home-court advantage for benefitting Maryland’s offensive production, which could play a huge role in the team’s current push with USC’s visit continuing a three-game homestand.
“It feels good. At times during the game, we feed off the crowd’s energy. We like when the crowd is loud,” Rice said.
Big man Derik Queen’s 16 points a contest lead the way for a team averaging 83.5 — good for 13th in the nation through games played on Monday. Both Queen and his frontcourt mate, Julian Reese, are in the neighborhood of averaging double-doubles.
Queen grabs 8.8 rebounds per game, while Reese has 9.2 boards to go with his 13.8 points an outing.
Maryland’s rebounding chops, balanced scoring and formidable play at home, where the Terps are 15-1 this season, combine to make Thursday’s matchup a challenging one for up-and-down USC (14-11, 6-8).
The Trojans come in having lost three of four contests after a late-game collapse on Saturday against Minnesota. USC surrendered an 8-0 run to close the game, squandering a lead the Trojans held for roughly 36 of 40 minutes.
Giving up a 15-2 disparity for points off turnovers and a 12-5 gap in second-chance points — a potentially concerning statistic against Maryland’s aggressive rebounding — doomed the Trojans vs. the Golden Gophers.
“It’s devastating,” said USC coach Eric Musselman. “But you continue to get better. Even when we lose, this team does play hard.”
Chibuzo Agbo and Wesley Yates III each made three 3-pointers in the loss, going a combined 6-of-7 from deep, en route to 18 points apiece. Desmond Claude scored 12 points but committed six turnovers.
Claude has turned the ball over a combined 14 times in his two contests following a two-game absence due to a bone bruise. USC’s leader in both average points (16) and assists (4.4), Claude missed the 0-2 road swing to Northwestern and Purdue on Feb. 4 and 7.
Thursday’s visit to Maryland is USC’s first road game since then. The Trojans are 3-3 in true road contests, including an 82-72 win at then-No. 13 Illinois on Jan. 11 in which Claude scored 31 points.
Yates, a redshirt freshman guard, scored a season-high 30 points in the 90-72 loss at then-No. 7 Purdue on Feb. 7.
–Field Level Media
