USC men’s basketball to take on Providence in NCAA Tournament

On Selection Sunday, the Trojans earned one of the last spots in the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans were placed in the preliminary play-in round, facing off against Providence in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday.

The game will be a rematch of last season’s first-round game, which the Trojans dropped 70-69 in the final seconds in a panic during an out-of-bounds play. But the opponent is an exciting challenge for the players returning from last year’s short-lived appearance in the tournament.

“We’re all happy,” sophomore forward Chimezie Metu said. “The most important thing is just to have fun and to come out focused. The freshmen will have to learn that through experience”

The seeding comes after the Trojans’ ability to make the tourney came under scrutiny late in the season. After cruising to a 14-0 start to the season, the team seemed to be a lock for making the tournament and continuing the momentum started with last year’s season. But a four-game losing streak punctuated by a 102-70 rout at the hands of UCLA and a 83-82 stunner at Arizona State sent the team tumbling far from the rankings and into the bubble.

As the clock rolled around to 5:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, it was unclear whether the bracket revealed live on CBS would include USC at all. But head coach Andy Enfield stayed firm throughout the process — he knew his team would make it.

“We thought we were in the tournament,” Enfield said. “We thought we did enough to deserve to be there.”

Enfield and his Trojans will 24-9 Trojans have the chance to build upon the growth they’ve made in past years in their second-straight NCAA tournament appearance.