USC Men’s Basketball: Key Strategies to Dominate the Rebound Game

The USC men’s basketball team faced a tough loss to Northwestern, and one big issue stood out: rebounding.

Before this game, Northwestern averaged about 34.5 rebounds per game. But against USC, they grabbed 22 offensive rebounds and a total of 43. That’s nearly 25% higher than their usual numbers.

Meanwhile, USC struggled. They managed only seven offensive rebounds and totaled 27 boards. This meant Northwestern scored many second-chance points. USC had to rely heavily on their initial shots to stay in the game.

Part of the problem was size. USC’s tallest player in the game was Josh Cohen at 6’8″, who played just three minutes. In contrast, Northwestern had two 7-foot centers, Matthew Nicholson and Keenan Fitzmorris, who played a combined 36 minutes.

Even teams without much height need to rebound effectively. For USC to have any chance at making the NCAA Tournament, they have to improve their rebounding efforts going forward.