The Terps take on the Trojans for the first time since 1990.
No. 20 Maryland men’s basketball continues its three-game homestand Thursday against another new Big Ten foe, USC. The Terps and Trojans have matched up just three times before, and not since 1990.
The Terps enter Thursday with all the momentum they could hope for, winners of seven of their last eight games and fresh off a 101-75 pummeling of Iowa. They’ve won all three previous contests against USC.
The game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. and air on FS1.
USC Trojans (14-11, 6-8 Big Ten)
USC has improved in its first year under head coach Eric Musselman, who is in his 10th year as a collegiate head coach and has five years of experience at the helm of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. The Trojans finished their final season in the Pac-12 with a 15-18 record.
But their new-look roster is still in the bottom half of the newly-expanded Big Ten, falling into a slump in recent weeks. USC has lost three of its last four games after upsetting then-No. 7 Michigan State on Feb. 1.
Their 2024-25 rebound has come without a key contributor in graduate forward Terrance Williams II, who’s been out since early December with a broken wrist.
Players to know
Desmond Claude, junior guard, 6-foot-6, No. 1 — Claude, an Xavier transfer, is the primary engine of the Trojans’ offense. He paces them with 16 points per game, tied for 10th in the Big Ten, and 4.4 assists per game. Claude has struggled with turnovers this season, though, with his 3.5 per game being tied for second most in the conference.
Wesley Yates III, redshirt freshman guard, 6-foot-4, No. 6 — Yates has burst onto the scene in his first year of college basketball as a pure scoring option. He’s started in USC’s past 16 games after opening the season on the bench, and is second on the team with 12.8 points per game. That figure could be much higher if Yates received starter minutes to begin the year.
Saint Thomas, senior forward, 6-foot-7, No. 0 — Thomas doesn’t light up the scoreboard, with just 9.9 points per game, but he does just about everything else the Trojans ask of him. A Northern Colorado transfer in his first year in Los Angeles, Thomas leads USC in minutes per game (34.2) and rebounds per game (6.1), is tied for the team lead in steals per game (1.2) and is second behind Claude in assists per game (4.2).
Strength
Shooting efficiency. The Trojans don’t shoot the ball a ton — they’ve got the fewest total field goal attempts in the conference — but they don’t waste opportunities when they come. USC is fifth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (48.3%) and sixth in 3-point percentage (36.3%).
Weakness
Defense. USC has struggled to stop opponents from scoring, allowing the Big Ten’s sixth-most points per game (72.9) while also sitting in the bottom six in blocks (3.0) and steals (6.0) per game. That could be trouble for the Trojans against a Maryland team fresh off a historic offensive showing against Iowa.
Three things to watch
1. Keep the momentum rolling. The Terps are clear favorites entering Thursday, especially at home. USC represents the only test before they host No. 14 Michigan State on Feb. 26 — it’s paramount Maryland doesn’t drop a game it should win before a highly-anticipated opponent comes to College Park next week.
2. Tafara Gapare’s status. Gapare missed two games with an illness before returning to action against Iowa, but he recorded just four minutes and didn’t take a shot. He’s got spark-plug ability off the bench for the Terps, and it’d be ideal for them to have him back in full swing before their contest with the Spartans.
3. Student turnout. Much noise was made about a relatively empty student section at Xfinity Center Sunday against Iowa. Michigan State will almost certainly draw a packed house, but head coach Kevin Willard’s squad would love to see a louder and more disruptive student section as the regular season’s end draws closer.