The Trojans have won four in a row, but I like the streak to end Thursday at the hands of visiting Arizona. The Wildcats won the first meeting 81-66. They've never lost consecutive games under coach Tommy Lloyd, and they're coming off a heartbreaking loss to rival Arizona State. While the Trojans are strong defending the paint, they'll struggle to limit Arizona's shooters, who hit 37.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats generated a slew of open looks in the first meeting and went 12 of 24 from deep. They won't be as efficient on the road, but they still should cover.

I think the wrong team is favored Thursday but the biggest discrepancy is the total. It looks to be 10 points too low based on the way USC has won and covered eight of its last 10, with the Over hitting seven times. Arizona comes off a bad home loss to Arizona State and has gone Over in six of its last eight. The Over is the top play.

Arizona went bonkers in the first meeting, hitting 12 of its 24 three-point attempts including five from Courtney Ramey. The Wildcats being a good three-point shooting team is not unusual -- they do rank 2nd in the Pac-12 at 35.2% in conference play -- but another 50% showing from behind the arc seems unlikely, especially on the road. USC has won four straight games and 8 of its last 10, playing some of its best basketball of the season and it has been solid defending at the rim and around the basket. If USC can take away the easy buckets and make Arizona shoot over the defense, this game could start to tilt in the favor of the home dog. Now add in the tricky schedule spot for Arizona, one game after the buzzer-beater loss to rival ASU and two days before the regular season finale at UCLA, and you can see why the upset alert sirens have been activated.

The Trojans need a signature win against a ranked team to solidify a berth in the Big Dance. USC shot 36.9% from the field and 23.5% from 3-point land (4-for-17) in the first meeting. Arizona shot 50% (12-for-24) from beyond the arc. USC is 8-2 SU and 8-2 ATS since that loss back on Jan.19. These teams have similar stats in conference games, with USC owning the better defense. Back the home underdog.