The USC Trojans and the Miami Hurricanes are set for a first-round duel this Friday in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Will USC find its way to the next round? Or will it be the Hurricanes who will advance? Check out our preview below of this USC-Miami 2022 March Madness matchup.
Betting Preview for the USC Trojans vs Miami Hurricanes NCAA College Basketball Game on March 18 2022
The Trojans went 0-2 straight up to close out their regular-season schedule before going two games deep in the Pac-12 Tournament, where they lost to the UCLA Bruins, 69-59. Nevertheless, USC is a team that carries lots of intrigues and Final Four sleeper potential. For one, the Trojans are so good offensively inside the arc. They don’t shoot lots of threes but are making over 50 percent of their attempts from 2-point range. They’re even better defending against 2-point attempts, as teams are only making 41.7 percent of their shots inside the 3-point line – second-best nationally. Isaiah Mobley leads Andy Enfield’s team with 14.3 points per game. He has some nice touch from the outside for a 6-10 guy, as he’s made 35.3 percent of his shots from behind the arc this season. Another biggie in 6-9 Drew Peterson is also another reliable shooter, going 41.1 percent on this threes this campaign.
USC is 7-1 against the spread in its last eight NCAA Tournament games.
Not a few were surprised that the Hurricanes managed to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large berth, but Miami certainly has its wins over the Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Wake Forest Demon Deacons to mostly thank for that. Now that they’re in the Big Dance, the Hurricanes will look to build the perfect storm, and that’s going to mainly depend on the play of senior 6-5 guard Kameron McGusty, who leads the team with 17.5 points per game and is shooting 37.3 percent from deep. Despite McGusty’s 3-point shooting prowess, the Hurricanes are only 303rd in the nation in 3PA/3FGA and only get 27.7 percent of their points from 3-pointers, but can keep up with teams with their defense. They are 10th in Division I basketball in effective field goal percentage defense and 49th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Miami, which is coming off a loss to the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament, is 7-1 against the spread in their last eight games after a defeat.
