How to watch USC at Maryland: JuJu Watkins leads Trojans against undefeated Terrapins

Maryland is undefeated and off to its best start in more than a decade. USC is ranked higher and has JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen. Wednesday’s top-10 Big Ten matchup has no shortage of intrigue.

How to watch No. 4 USC at No. 8 Maryland

Venue: Xfinity Center — College Park, Md.

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET Wednesday

TV: FS1

Streaming: Fubo (try for free)

Watching in-person? Get tickets on StubHub.

The Terrapins are one of just five unbeaten teams left in Division I. They convincingly beat Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers and Iowa to start conference play.

Kaylene Smikle is coming off her fourth-career Big Ten Player of the Week designation, averaging almost 20 points across her last four games. She’s been excellent in high-usage this year, shooting 50 percent from the field and 46.2 0n treys. Her backcourt running mate Shyanne Sellers has cut down on turnovers and fouls in her senior season.

Coach Brenda Frese’s team is fourth in rebounding differential. It puts points on the board and gets to the free throw line consistently. If Maryland has a weakness thus far, it’s giveaways — 16.5 in conference action, 207th in the country overall.

USC will be the Terps’ toughest challenge to date. The Trojans have the best defensive rating in the nation, and sit second in blocked shots. Lindsay Gottlieb coaches two of the best players in the game — Watkins, the transcendent playmaker who leads the conference in scoring, and Iriafen, an interior force snagging almost five offensive boards per outing. This duo became the second set of Trojans to score 30 points in the same game, matching Lisa Leslie and Tammy Story in 1990.

But USC is a balanced and formidable group with national championship aspirations. Rayah Marshall is a superlative defender, averaging 3.3 stocks (steals + blocks) and a team-best rebounding percentage. And Talia von Oelhoffen is the fourth Trojan with at least one full defensive win share this season. This aggressive, confident defense shrinks floors and deflates opponents.

USC continues its East Coast road trip, after a 50-point blowout at Rutgers on Sunday. Its one loss came against Hannah Hidalgo and Notre Dame on Nov. 23.

The Trojans lead the all-time series 5-1.

Sabreena Merchant’s New Year’s resolution for the Trojans: “Take care of the ball…in Quad 1 games, the turnover rate spikes to 24.8 percent, meaning nearly one turnover every four possessions, placing the Trojans in the 11th percentile. They had 27 turnovers in a close win over Ole Miss, 21 turnovers in a loss to Notre Dame, 22 turnovers in a road win over Oregon and 18 turnovers in a squeaker over UConn. Against decent defenses, USC needs to be better at taking care of possessions.”

Merchant on Maryland: “Maryland’s defense has dramatically improved in recent seasons. Over the last four years, the Terrapins’ defensive rating has ranged from the 24th percentile nationally to the 56th. This year, they’re in the 93rd percentile. Their defensive rebounding has been markedly better, despite their tallest rotation players standing 6 feet 2. They don’t play particularly aggressively on defense, but they are long, and that leads to a lot of deflections.”

USC at Maryland odds

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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