USC faces a tough road to Final Four

Junior guard Boogie Ellis dribbles the ball during USC’s matchup against Arizona at home. (Riley Yen | Daily Trojan)

It’s official: the Trojans are dancing for the second year in a row. 

No. 7 seeded USC will face No. 10 seeded Miami in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday in Greenville, S.C. The team received an at-large bid after losing in the semifinal of the Pac-12 Tournament, the same situation as their entrance last year.

Despite USC’s effervescent season start, during which they hailed as the No. 5 team in the country, the team’s inability to beat Arizona or UCLA at the end of the season secured them the seven seed. 

“The nice thing is we’re in the tournament with 26 wins,” Head Coach Andy Enfield said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We’re not really concerned about the seeding because we have no control over that. I’m just really happy about the progress of our team and where we are at right now.”

Much like USC, Miami’s season had its ups and downs. The Hurricanes started off the season shaky, losing to multiple unranked teams but then pulled together for an impressive win against No. 2 Duke on Jan. 8. Miami faced Duke again in the ACC tournament March 11 semifinals but lost by 4 points. 

The Hurricanes are led by a tandem guard duo of sixth-year redshirt senior Kameron McGusty and third-year sophomore Isaiah Wong – both oversized guards that rely on their inside scoring ability. McGusty led the charge in their most recent matchup with Duke with 24 points on 11-for-19 shooting. Wong went cold that night, missing 10 of his 11 shots and scoring 7 points.

The ACC has typically been regarded as a strong basketball conference, but many experts have noted this year as one of their weaker ones. Miami’s wins against teams such as Duke, Syracuse, Louisville and UNC shouldn’t be something that frightens the Trojans ahead of their matchup with the Hurricanes. 

“We’re ready to go,” said senior guard Drew Peterson. “We’ll take a good matchup. We’re excited where we fell. We’ll take it game by game. It’s all you can do at this point.”

If USC were to win against the Hurricanes, they would likely face No. 2 seed Auburn barring an upset. The Tigers have freshman forward Jabari Smith, who is projected as a top five in next year’s NBA Draft. Auburn, which dominated a tough SEC all season, may prove a tough matchup for the Trojans. However, the Tigers ended the season losing two of its last four games. 

If the Trojans were to get past Auburn, a likely date with No. 3 seed Wisconsin will wait in the Sweet 16. The Badgers placed first in the Big Ten but ended the season with consecutive losses.

Before the Final Four, USC will likely face No. 1 seed Kansas in the Elite Eight. It’s a different Kansas team from last season, as the Jayhawks won the Big 12 and star guard senior Ochai Agbaji has made a leap in scoring. 

Much like last year, the odds to make a tournament run past the first two rounds are against the Trojans’ favor, but the team had similar odds as a No. 6 seed last year. 

USC and Miami will tip off at 12:10 p.m. Friday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.