The Trojans hope to fulfill their Destiny as an NCAA Tournament team, maybe even a team which can win one game in the NCAA Tournament in March. The Trojans aren’t a lock for the Big Dance, but they are getting very close. It will be hard for this team to not make the field of 68 at this point. It has done too much good work over the past two weeks. Beating Stanford, Washington State, Washington, and Colorado — three of them on the road — is a lot of heavy lifting. The Trojans have gone from an NIT team to a very likely NCAA tourney team in a short period of time. An average resume has become an above-average resume. This team has put itself in position to make the bracket.
If you have been following this team closely, you know its anchor and its north star is its defense. On Sunday against Colorado, USC held the Buffaloes to no more than 13 points in three of the four quarters. They allowed 54 or fewer points for the fifth time in six games. Lindsay Gottlieb and Beth Burns know how to teach defense. That part has been figured out.
The offense is where USC can struggle. Even in the win over Stanford, the offense shot under 28 percent from the floor. The Washington State and Washington games weren’t pretty either.
On Sunday against Colorado, however, we all saw what happens when an elite defensive team also finds some shotmaking. When USC’s offense clicks, this team is a nightmare to play against.
USC’s Destiny for March could be written by Destiny Littleton. USC’s experienced guard hit 6 of 13 3-pointers for the Trojans against Colorado. Littleton was joined by Kadi Sissoko and Rayah Marshall in scoring at least 18 points. Littleton, Sissoko, and Marshall combined for 58 points, more than the whole Colorado team. USC hit 9 of 19 triples and made over 44 percent of its field goal attempts. When those numbers are reached, USC is a headache for opponents.
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