Battle of California – USC Trojans at California Golden Bears

NCAA Basketball

USC Trojans (16-10 SU, 11-13 ATS) at California Golden Bears (20-7 SU, 15-9 ATS)

Thursday, February 26

BetOnline NCAA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: CALIFORNIA -4

Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• USC has lost four of its last five games SU
• USC has covered one of its last five games
• USC has lost five of its last six road games SU
• USC has covered two of its last six road games
• CAL has won four of its last five games SU
• CAL has covered four of its last five games
• CAL has won 15 of its last 16 home games SU
• CAL has covered nine of its last 11 home games
• CAL has played five of its last six home games OVER the total

Also…

• USC has won four of the last five meetings SU
• Five of the last six meetings have gone OVER the total
• Four of the last five meetings in Berkeley have gone OVER the total
• USC has had the shooting edge in each of the last five meetings

California is a sizzling 10-2 ATS as the home team, as you might expect from a team that has been able to shoot almost 53% at Berkeley. What’s even scarier is that the Bears are too legit to quit when heaving it beyond the arc, nailing 49% from there at the Haas Pavilion. It’s safe to say that they are very comfortable in their own element.

We know that Tim Floyd is very good at coming up with defensive schemes to foul up what the opposition wants to do best, but there’s only so long you can keep a team down when they have three starters shooting 41% or better in the three-point category. What we’re saying is that there is not likely to be a repeat of what happened in the January 31 meeting between these clubs, which USC won by a 73-62 score, and Cal shot just two-for-16 from three-point range. Rather, this team that scores 79 points a game at home and has shot 53% or better in three of its last five games will be ready, willing and able to rebound from the aberration that was a 65-54 loss to Oregon State on Saturday and be in shape to get a little payback at the same time.

USC has gotten admirable contributions from time to time from freshman DeMar Derozan, who had 19 points against Cal the first time around, but he’s been inconsistent. The Trojans don’t have the long-range ability to trade if they fall behind early, and with just 55 ppg over the last three, they are not in great form. We’re thinking Cal wraps up an NCAA at-large bid with wins here and against UCLA on the weekend, before traveling to the Arizona schools to wrap up the regular season.

We’ll lay the points with California, the four-point favorite in the BetOnline Sportsbook.

JAY’S PLAY:  CALIFORNIA -4
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay makes his share of shots from downtown as a contributor to the BetOnline Locker Room)