Check out our free Auburn vs USC pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Los Angeles. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.

Auburn vs USC Pick & Preview: Sunday, December 18th Betting Odds

Tigers vs Trojans Matchup at a Glance

  • Sport: NCAAB
  • Teams: Auburn Tigers at USC Trojans
  • Where: Los Angeles at Galen Center
  • Date: Sunday, December 18th
  • Betting Odds: Auburn -1, AUBRN -121 | USC -102 O/U 141.0

Tigers Preview:

Through 10 games, the Auburn Tigers have an overall record of 9-1. On the road, the Tigers will be playing their 3rd game of the season, having gone 2-1. This season, Auburn has been favored to win in 10 games, sitting with a mark of 9-1. For today’s contest, Auburn have a betting line set -1 points in their favor.

Important to the outcome of the game, is if Wendell Green Jr. will be able to suit up for the Tigers’. Heading into play, Jr. leads the team at 13.8 points per game. So far, he has an effective field goal percentage of 48.0% while also adding 4.0 rebounds. Even if Wendell Green Jr. ends up playing, Auburn will be counting on Johni Broome to continue his solid play for the team. Currently, Broome is the Tigers’ second leading scorer at 11.11 points per game. So far, he has hit 46.1% of his field goal attempts.

Auburn comes into today’s matchup vs USC, looking to continue their strong offensive play, as they are averaging 78.7 points per game. Through 10 games, they have hit 44.0% of their field goal attempts. In terms of pace, the Tigers’ have prefered to slow the game down, ranking 313rd in possessions per game.

Trojans Preview:

The USC Trojans head into today’s game in what will be their 12th game of the season, posting a record of 8-3. So far this season, USC has played 9 games at home, sitting with a record of 6-3. For the season, USC has been the underdog in 3 games, sitting with a mark of 1-2. Currently, the oddsmakers have the lines set with the Trojans being +1 point underdogs.

USC will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Boogie Ellis who is averaging 14.09 points per game for the Trojans. Ellis is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Trojans’ offensive gameplan is the play of Drew Peterson who has hit 44.9% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 13.91 points per game.

Coming into today’s game, USC will be looking from some improved play from their offense. Currently, the Trojans are ranked 159th at 72.6 points per game. A major reason for their low scoring mumbers is the fact that they tend to work the clock on offense. This year, they are the 389th ranked team in terms of pace. When looking at their 3-point shooting numbers, USC is close to the NCAA average at 36.0%.

Free Spread Prediction: Auburn Tigers -1

Heading into this matchup, our NCAA betting model has identified this game as a profitable opportunity and recommends taking the Auburn Tigers to pick up the win and cover the spread as -1 point betting favorites. Although Auburn as a team is just 217th in overall shooting percentage, we see their offense putting together a strong performance against the Trojans’ defense. At -1 we see there being plenty of value in grabbing the Tigers to come out on top and cover.