The USC Trojans will travel to Auburn, Alabama to face the Auburn Tigers at the Neville Arena with tip-off scheduled for 1:00 PM ET on Sunday afternoon and will air on ESPN.

USC enters this game with a record of 5-4 following a 79-84 loss in overtime against the Long Beach State Beach at home last Sunday which was also Bronny James’s first start of the season and the first game he has played in since his cardiac arrest.

 

James played for 17 minutes in the loss and recorded 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in the matchup. The loss also extended the losing streak for the Trojans to two games while having also lost three of their last five games.

 

The Trojans have been an above-average scoring team as they enter this game averaging 78.89 points per game, however, they have been below-average defensively as they are allowing an average of 72.67 points per game. The USC Trojans will look to end their two-game losing streak when they travel to face the Auburn Tigers.

 

The Auburn Tigers enter this game with a record of 7-2 and are on a two-game winning streak following an 87-62 win at home against the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs on Wednesday. Auburn also won the 2023 Legends Classic earlier this season by defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Semifinals by a score of 83-59 and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies in the championship game by a score of 77-60. 

 

The success for the Tigers this season can be attributed to their defensive play as they enter this game allowing an average of 66.22 points per game while having also been an above-average scoring team as they enter this game averaging 82.33 points per game. Johni Broome has been one of the best players this season for the Auburn Tigers as he leads the team in scoring, rebounds, and blocks with an average of 15.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game.

 

The Auburn Tigers will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they host the USC Trojans on Sunday afternoon.

 

BookMaker has the Auburn Tigers listed as 8.5-point favorites at home against the USC Trojans on Sunday afternoon. These teams have only played one other time before this matchup which occurred last season and resulted in a 74-71 win for the USC Trojans at home and a 1-point cover as an underdog. The USC Trojans are 4-5 ATS overall and 0-1 ATS as an underdog this season while the Auburn Tigers are 5-4 ATS overall, 1-2 ATS at home, and 5-4 ATS as a favorite on the year.

 

Auburn is the better team this season as they enter this game with a record of 7-2 and are on a two-game winning streak while USC enters this game with a record of 5-4 and is on a two-game losing streak. The Tigers have also been the slightly better team at covering the spread this season as they are 5-4 ATS overall and 5-4 ATS as a favorite while the Trojans are 4-5 ATS overall and 0-1 ATS as an underdog which is why I am buying the .5 point and laying the points with the Auburn Tigers when they host the USC Trojans.