Game Day Essentials: Game #7 vs Wake Forest - 12/3/2012

Mascot: Trojans

Conference: PAC-12

School Location: Los Angeles, CA

Shirt not to wear: Gold, Cardinal, armor

Alternate Protection Methods: Lifestyles, abstinence

Not to be confused with: University of South Carolina

Flag to look for: New Zealand

Last game out: Lost to San Diego St.

Probable Starters:

Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1)

3 - Benny Parker - 5-9 - Fr. - G

15 - Ray Gallegos - 6-2 - Jr. - G

24 - Dylan Talley - 6-5 - Sr. - G

13 - Brandon Ubel - 6-10 - Sr. - F

32 - Andre Almeida - 6-11 - Sr. - C

USC Trojans (3-3)

34 Eric Wise F 6-6 240 SR

14 Dewayne Dedmon F 7-0 255 JR

1 Jio Fontan G 6-0 175 SR

20 J.T. Terrell G 6-3 185 JR

22 Byron Wesley G 6-5 210 SO

Opposing Players to watch: Dewayne Dedmon

If any player on the court is going to the NBA, it's probably Dedmon. However, having an NBA body doesn't always translate into results and that's the book on Dedmon. The 7ft-er really hasn't been the dominating double-double that was expected out of high school (Andre Almeida has more - 1) though still is a load to handle. It will be interesting to see if O'Neill will bring in 7-2 Omar Oraby at the same time given they should matchup well with Ubel and Andre.

Opposing Players to watch: Jio Fontan

The senior point guard is coming back from a torn ACL and so far has been a mixed bag. While he's been dishing out 6 assists per game he's been shooting an atrocious 22.6% from the field.

Opposing Players to watch: J.T. Terrell

The Wake Forest transfer has been the leading scorer and shot taker for the Trojans which explains much of their offensive ineptitude this season. Last year's leading scorer, Maurice Jones, flunked out of school and thus is now part of Transfer U at Iowa St.

Big Stretch for the Huskers

If we just peek down the schedule, the next three games should tell you a lot about what level of rough it will be for the Huskers in the BiG 10. USC completely fell apart last year due to injuries and poor play, setting a school record with 26 losses. They had a bunch of players transfer in and out and Kevin O'Neill once again has a wealth of talent that never seems to play to it's potential.

Expect yet another ugly USC-Husker game as USC excels at rebounding, blocked shots, and overall defense while thus far being an absolute train wreck on offense. Speaking of train wrecks, the Huskers rebounded from theirs to absolutely scorch Wake Forest including career days from Andre and Ray. While it might be asking a lot for them to duplicate those nights, having both of them show up in this game and other games is going to mean the difference between losing and having a chance to win. The Huskers also welcome back Shavon Shields who at this point minimally brings in much needed depth.

The key will be exploiting the interior as for all their shot blocking ability the Trojans have been a lot better at guarding the three than the two. While any team that can come into this game shooting well will win in a blowout, look for the Huskers to be the team better at closing.

Prediction: Huskers 58 - Trojans 52 with a 2.3% chance of Runzas