#15 ASU-USC: A must win for the Trojans?

It should be another terrific game at Galen Center tonight, as the Trojans host the 15th ranked Sun Devils. The Sun Devils will showcase one of the top players in the country in James Harden. He was a player many thought might go straight to the NBA after his freshman season last year, but he decided to stay and it has certainly paid off, as he is averaging about 23 ppg. Normally, the strategy when playing a team with a star like Harden is to let him get his points, but to try and shut down the other guys. Tim Floyd, however, has employed the opposite strategy when playing teams like this. He normally tries to make the other guys beat his team, while attempting to shut down the star player. He has already shown this philosophy with Blake Griffin when USC played Oklahoma earlier this year. Last year, he attempted to shut down the likes of Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, and Brandon Rush. It will be interesting to see how he goes about containing Harden tonight. Expect Coach Floyd to frequently change up his defensive schemes in an attempt to confuse the Sun Devils.

The Trojans really need a win tonight at home. I know they started last year 0-3 in the Pac-10, but this year they don't have O.J. Mayo to help carry them out of an early hole in conference play. Not only do the Trojans need this win to improve their conference standing, but they need to prove they can beat a top-25 team. They have come close against Oklahoma and UCLA, but they need to beat a team like ASU at home if they hope to be a top team in the Pac-10. A win against a solid team like the Sun Devils will do a lot to help the Trojans make up for loses to teams like Seton Hall, Missouri, and Oregon State. A win tonight won't cure everything that has gone wrong so far, but it could help get the Trojans on a little run. The key tonight for USC will be Dwight Lewis. He has struggled shooting the ball the past two games and he needs to find his stroke and be a consistent scoring option for the Trojans. Normally, when Lewis plays well the Trojans win. Should be exciting tonight.