After a sluggish start, the underachieving Trojans
can silence a few of the doubter with a solid performance in
four team Las Vegas Invitational.
Their football team can't play in the postseason, but their Men's Basketball team can. After being a team many considered an NCAA tournament lock in the preseason, Jio Fontan tore his ACL and was declared out for the year. Fontan was expected to lead USC this season, even carry the team on his back. Now, with his injury, the Trojans haven't found any one player who has been able to fill even somewhat of the void.
Although former Iowa Hawkeye Aaron Fuller and 5'7" sophomore Maurice Jones are both averaging double figures in scoring, junior college standout Dwayne Dedmon has failed in many people's eyes to live up to the hype. In 24 minutes per game, Dedmon has averaged seven points and six boards. Not exactly impressive for a man who was believed to be a dominating force down low for USC.
Things aren't getting much easier for USC tonight, as they take on a UNLV team who is 5-0, expected to win the Mountain West conference and appear in their third consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Rebels are led by first year head coach Dave Rice, who played for Jerry Tarkanian's 1990 national championship team.
The Trojans have to be nothing short of stellar from here on out if they expect a tournament berth this year. While they lost to Nebraska and a declining San Diego State team, they also fell at home to Cal Poly, an opponent from the much smaller Big West Conference.
If they are victorious tonight, they will play the winner of the #1 North Carolina/South Carolina contest.
No comments:
Post a Comment