Indiana (12-3) vs USC (9-5)
January 8, 2025 at 07:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Indiana -7.5 — Over/Under: 150.5
The USC Trojans and the Indiana Hoosiers meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Bloomington Assembly Hall. Here’s a USC vs Indiana prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best USC vs Indiana pick. We will examine:
The USC Trojans’ recent form and player performance
The Indiana Hoosiers’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the USC Trojans
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Indiana Hoosiers
Recent betting trends in games played between USC and Indiana
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the USC vs Indiana game
USC Trojans Betting Preview
The Trojans opened up their season on a 5-1 stretch, losing to only California in that time for a pretty solid start. The wins during that time were versus Chattanooga, Idaho State, Texas-Arlington, San Jose State, and Grambling otherwise. USC hit a three-game losing streak after that. Those losses came versus Saint Mary’s, New Mexico, and Oregon. The Trojans would recover on a four-game win streak over Washington, Montana State, Cal State Northridge, and Southern after that, but then fell versus Michigan over the weekend for a 9-5 start so far.
Matched up against the Wolverines this past Saturday, the Trojans came out of the break looking at a 42-38 deficit on the scoreboard. USC didn’t end up getting any closer than that, falling further behind on a 43-36 deficit in the second for an 85-74 defeat in the end. Leading the team in scoring were Desmond Claude (seven rebounds; four assists) and Wesley Yates (three rebounds), each with 19 points. Kevin Patton came off the bench to provide 14 points and three rebounds, while Saint Thomas chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds.
Indiana Hoosiers Betting Preview
Over on the Hoosiers’ side, they entered the 2024-25 season on a 4-0 run. those victories came versus SIU Edwardsville, Eastern Illinois, South Carolina, and UNC Greensboro. Consecutive losses came after that versus Louisville and Gonzaga, but Indiana would hit a winning streak over Providence, Sam Houston, Miami-Ohio, and Minnesota in the next quartet. Following another loss to Nebraska on December 13, Indiana got back on track with four more wins over Chattanooga, Winthrop, Rutgers, and Penn State for a 12-3 record so far.
Matched up against Penn State on Sunday, the Hoosiers came out of halftime with a 29-29 tie on the scoreboard. Indiana got better from there on a 48-42 run, however, and took the victory 77-71. Leading the team in scoring during the win was Oumar Ballo with 25 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Mackenzie Mgbako added 20 points with four rebounds and two assists. Luke Goode had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Bryson Tucker led a meager bench scoring a total of two points, three boards, and two assists.
Why the Indiana Hoosiers will win
- Indiana has won each of its last 12 games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the USC Trojans will win
- USC has won four of its last five games.
USC vs Indiana Prediction
I’ll stay with the Hoosiers here. Indiana dispatched a good Penn State team in their last outing thanks to 44.8 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from outside. The rebounding was also good (a 39-33 advantage) however Indiana had some turnover troubles. The Hoosiers coughed up 14 of them for 23 Nittany Lions points, but everything worked out well in the end. During this nice four-game win streak, Indiana has posted 74 or more points in every outing, but they’re also giving up quite a bit on the other side: 68 or more in three straight.
As for USC, they were competitive on the boards with Michigan and had 19 team assists, but also gave up 52.7 percent shooting from the field and had 12 turnovers for 15 Wolverine points. The Trojans have been scoring extremely well themselves lately though. They’ve hit 74 or more points in five straight (a 4-1 run). Indiana will have a bit of a challenge here but I think the Hoosiers are up for it at home.