Michigan State is gearing up to face USC in the round of 64 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Spartans, who come in as a 7-seed are looking to string together a couple of wins to move onto the second weekend of the tournament.
Standing in their way is the USC Trojans, who have an experienced starting lineup, and a plethora of scorers who could stymie any ideas MSU has at making a run.
Let’s take a look at USC’s starting lineup, and the rotational pieces MSU will see on Friday:
PG Boogie Ellis
Class: Senior
Points: 18.0
Assists: 3.0
Rebounds: 3.7
FG%: 43.9
3PT%: 39.2
G Kobe Johnson
Class: Sophomore
Points: 9.0
Assists: 2.5
Rebounds: 4.9
FG%: 47.1
3PT%: 35.4
G Tre White
Class: Freshman
Points: 9.1
Assists: 1.1
Rebounds: 5.1
FG%: 48.0
3PT%: 25.1
F Drew Peterson
Class: Senior
Points: 14.0
Assists: 4.4
Rebounds: 6.2
FG%: 44.3
3PT%: 36.2
C Joshua Morgan
Class: Senior
Points: 6.7
Assists: 0.5
Rebounds: 5.2
FG%: 56.8
3PT%: 0.0
G Reese Dixon-Waters
Class: Junior
Points: 9.8
Assists: 1.1
Rebounds: 3.2
FG%: 44.1
3PT%: 28.6
C Vincent Iwuchukwu
Class: Freshman
Points: 5.4
Assists: 0.3
Rebounds: 2.5
FG%: 50.9
3PT%: 0.0
F Kijani Wright
Class: Freshman
Points: 2.0
Assists: 0.3
Rebounds: 1.9
FG%: 46.8
3PT%: 0.0
Analysis
It is a strong scoring lineup, that is plentiful with small forward/shooting guard wings.
Boogie Ellis is a certified star, and Andy Enfield has done a great job putting a bunch of quality role players around him. The key to winning for this game isn’t stopping Ellis, because he is going to get most of what he wants. The Spartans are going to need to limit the scoring production from the role players like Johnson and Dixon-Waters.
USC doesn’t have a strong post presence, which should bode well for the Spartans, which means perimeter defense will need to be strong and sturdy while limiting dribble penetration.
Michigan State will need to bring their ‘A’ effort on defense.
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