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Providence
vs
USC
Today's Featured Sports Pick

Game Date:
03/17/2016
10:00pm EST

Lines:
Providence -2
USC +2

Total:
Over 149.5 (-119)
Under 149.5 (+102)

Community Picks: Providence 0% vs USC 0%

Providence and USC Thread

Team Tweets & News Articles
Providence
Southern California is finally back in the NCAA Tournament. The eighth-seeded Trojans (21-12) play their first tournament game since 2011 on Thursday night when they face the ninth-seeded Friars (23-10) in the first round of the East Regional. ''This was our goal, ultimately, coming into the season,'' guard Julian Jacobs said. Continue to Article
March 16, 2016 6:54:pm EST
Providence
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Southern California is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years. Continue to Article
March 13, 2016 6:57:pm EST
USC
LAS VEGAS — Andy Enfield struggled to hide his annoyance Thursday night as reporters poked holes in his team's resume. When someone asked about USC's 0-5 record against RPI top 25 opponents, Enfield quickly rattled off a list of the Trojans' quality wins. When someone asked about USC's seven losses in its final 10 games, Enfield defended the Trojans by pointing to their top 50 strength of schedule. Enfield was adamant USC is in no jeopardy of missing the NCAA tournament despite a poor finish to the season culminating in Thursday's 80-72 loss to second-seeded Utah in the Pac-12 quarterfinals. The Trojans have not heard their name called on Selection Sunday since 2011, two years before Enfield was hired to revitalize a program that had run aground under Kevin O'Neill. "With our strength of schedule and how many top 100 wins we have, I think there's no question we deserve to be in the tournament," Enfield said. "I certainly wouldn't want to play us. We're very streaky and explosive." Enfield's confidence is probably warranted in spite of his team's late-season fade to the finish line. The flurry of losses from other bubble teams Thursday night has the Trojans (21-12, 9-9) still on pace for a No. 9 or 10 seed in spite of their inability to bolster their resume. USC has five RPI top 50 wins against Arizona, Colorado, Oregon State, Wichita State and Yale. The Trojans are an impressive 12-11 against RPI top 100 opponents and they have not suffered a loss to a sub-100 opponent. "I feel pretty confident," USC guard Julian Jacobs said. "A lot of people around the country didn't expect much from us, so the fact we're in a position to potentially make the NCAA tournament is a huge milestone." That USC is even in contention for an NCAA bid is indeed a pleasant surprise. Enfield's teams finished second-to-last and last in the Pac-12 his first two seasons as he cleaned up the mess he inherited and restocked the program with local talent. This year's Trojans were only expected to be marginally better with no scholarship seniors and a roster of mostly freshmen and sophomores. USC has exceeded expectations because the young talent has developed faster than anticipated. Six Trojans average double figures — a freshman, two sophomores and three juniors. Jacobs and fellow point guard Jordan McLaughlin have emerged as the twin engines of Enfield's fast-paced offense because of their ability to attack the rim, push tempo and make good decisions with the ball in their hands. They're surrounded by weapons at every position, from stretch forward Bennie Boatwright, to skilled big man Nikola Jovanovic, to streaky wings Katin Reinhardt and Elijah Stewart. "I'm really proud of how we've improved this season," Stewart said. "Honestly, we were picked last in the [Pac-12], so I feel like we made a major improvement. We had that chip on our shoulder all season. I feel like that's what got us to this point." The one glaring weakness for USC is that it's still susceptible in the paint and it still surrenders far too many offensive rebounds. The Trojans tried to combat that Thursday by sending two or three defenders at Pac-12 player of the year Jakob Poeltl, but the Utes' supporting cast made Enfield pay for that strategy. Forward Kyle Kuzma matched his career high with 23 points including an unlikely corner 3-pointer after the Trojans had pulled within two in the final minutes. Utah went 10-for-22 as a team from behind the arc, none bigger than the Kuzma 3-pointer and a desperation 30 footer from Brandon Taylor after the Trojans had pulled back within three with less than two minutes to play. The outcome was a disappointment for Enfield but the season as a whole certainly isn't. That's why he rightfully bristled when a reporter asked during the postgame press conference what his team needed to do to "turn the corner" against elite opponents. "We lost 20 games last year, so turning the corner? I think we've turned quite a few corners," Enfield said. "In fact, I think we might be circling right now. "We have 21 wins, and we've beaten a lot of good teams this year. I'd like to have 24 or 25 wins, but at the same time I think all of you sitting there thought we'd have 12 or 13 wins. So I think we've turned quite a few corners." - - - - - - - Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @JeffEisenberg Continue to Article
March 11, 2016 1:24:am EST
Providence
Jalen Lindsey doubled his career high with 30 points and Providence secured the No. 4 seed in the Big East Tournament with a 90-76 victory over St. John's at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Lindsey had a career day in the game's first 11 minutes. The rest of the Friars (22-9, 10-8) were hitting at a pretty good clip themselves as they were shooting 60 percent over the first 10 minutes. Continue to Article
March 05, 2016 2:41:pm EST
USC
March 03, 2016 11:15:am EST
 
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