In only his second year as head coach, Kevin O’Neill’s Trojans earned a spot in the NCAA tournament as an 11 seed, and he won’t hesitate to acknowledge how hard his team battled to get there.

“We had to fight and scratch and dig for everything we got this year, and we’re gonna keep fighting, scratching, and digging,” O’Neill told ATVN Tuesday.

The Trojans have a 19-14 record heading into the tournament. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi chose them as one of the “Last Four In” heading into Sunday’s Selection Show.

“They were the most excited team I had ever been around, so they obviously felt like they earned this,” said O’Neill of his players after learning of the team’s inclusion into the 68-team tournament. “They were excited to be here, and hopefully we live up to the excitement,” O’Neill said in a press conference earlier today. 

USC will face fellow 11 seed VCU in its first round game, and the team knows it has a tough match ahead.

“I think VCU has a very very good basketball team. I’ve seem them on and off throughout the whole year. We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us to play them,” O’Neill said.

Starting shooting guard Jio Fontan also praised the Rams during the press conference.

“They’re a great team at doing what they do. They get up and down the court, they play a lot of guys. They’re definitely a team that’s going to try to speed the game up,” said Fontan.

Besides controlling the tempo, O’Neill said there are a few specific elements of the game his team must excel at in order to pull out a win.

“We have a formula for winning, and that’s defending, rebounding the ball, low turnovers, and taking good shots. On top of that, if we establish the inside presence of Nik [Vucevic] and Al [Stepheson], we have an opportunity to control the tempo of the game.”

When discussing tomorrow’s match, O’Neill stressed the Trojans’ need to control the tempo. But when looking back at the team’s success down the stretch--the Trojans won six of their final eight games--O’Neill pointed out the strength and growth of several of his players.

“I think Donte [Smith] and Marcus Simmons and Al really stepped up, and Nik got better and better. Our whole team has evolved into a pretty solid team. Because of all the adversity we’ve went through, they’ve become men,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill’s praise for his players was heard throughout the majority of his press conference, repeatedly referencing his team’s growth throughout the season.

“We have guys that care about winning and have a passion for getting better, and because of that, we’ve been able to improve as a team, get more tough mentally and physically as we got along, and really overcome I think instrumental odds to be in the NCAA tournament in just our second year.”

USC tips off against VCU tomorrow night in Dayton at 6 p.m. ATVN.org will have full coverage of the game, including a live blog from Dayton.