The Trojans will face off tonight against the VCU Rams in the second day of play-in games, and head coach Kevin O’Neill is confident his players are mentally prepared for the challenge.
“I think our guys are ready to play. They want to prove they belong. They want to prove they’re a team that can move on. They want to prove their worth. That’s all you can ask teams to do, and that’s where I think our guys are at,” O’Neill told ATVN this morning at the team’s hotel.
The team participated in a brief 20-minute closed practice starting at 10 a.m. O’Neill admits despite USC’s strong finish in the regular season, there are no last minute preparations that can be made to help the team develop a stronger offense.
“No not really. Our team’s our team. What we gotta do now is go out and play great basketball and try to get a win. Try to move on.”
The team is known to be one of the strongest teams in the Pac-10 defensively. And in order to win tonight, O’Neill stresses the need for the Trojans to control the tempo.
“They’re an up-tempo, pressure oriented team, and it’s a test of contrasting styles, and we have to impose our will on them,” said O’Neill when comparing his team to VCU.
VCU recorded wins against UCLA, George Mason, and Old Dominion this season, all of whom earned spots in the tournament. Four seasons ago, when the Rams also held an 11 seed, they upset the sixth seeded Duke Blue Devils, 79-77.
The battle between these two 11 seeds starts at 6 p.m. The winner heads to Chicago to face the six seed, Georgetown, on Friday.
