Southern Illinois at USC

Southern Illinois is at it again. It all begins with defense and the Salukis only allow 35.7% against them and just 27% from beyond the arc. Falker and Shaw give them two tough go-to players in the paint, and a competent PG in Bryan Mullins to get them the ball. This team is fundamentally sound year after year. They play solid defense, and work the ball for good shots. USC is laden with young talent. OJ Mayo is everything he was advertised to be at 23.6-ppg. The Trojans are replacing three experienced players that combined to score 44 points per game with three inexperienced players with the ability to do the same, but in the end the experience, especially against a disciplined, good team such as Southern Illinois is going to be the deciding factor, so we will ride the Salukis here.