NCAAB Odds, Pick for Seton Hall vs USC

Here's everything you need to know about Seton Hall vs. USC on Thursday, Nov. 23 — our expert pick and betting guide.

The first annual Rady Children's Invitational tips off on Thursday as Iowa, USC, Seton Hall and Oklahoma meet in San Diego for a two-day multiple-team event (MTE). The semifinals will take place on Thanksgiving, with USC and Seton Hall playing as the second semifinal scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.

UC San Diego hosts these matchups, and this will be one of the most evenly matched MTE's you'll see all month, with both spreads fewer than three points on the opening lines. Seton Hall is in year two under Shaheen Holloway, and they've won all four of their games by double digits.

USC impressed in its opener win against Kansas State on a neutral court but took a puzzling home loss to UC Irvine by 10 on Nov. 14 when a few key players sat out, including Boogie Ellis. The Trojans are 3-1 and now have an opportunity for one or two solid nonconfernece wins before they play both Gonzaga and Auburn in December.

There is one injury concern for the Trojans to monitor, but these two defenses project really well at the rim and should make scoring difficult in an unfamiliar gym.

Find my betting pick and prediction for Seton Hall vs. USC below.

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Seton Hall has the potential to be one of the better defensive teams in the country this season. The Pirates did lose two of their best defenders in Tyrese Samuel and KC Ndefo, but the market might be underrating this group as a whole. Holloway has shown a consistent ability at both Saint Peter's and Seton Hall to develop and scheme elite defenses with solid talent and length.

It's a bit of a tempo shock for Dylan Addae-Wusu to go from the chaos of St. John's under Mike Anderson into this defensively controlled Seton Hall team. But Addae-Wusu and Dre Davis have all of the tools to be excellent backcourt and wing defenders next to elite stopper Kadary Richmond in the backcourt.

Jaden Bediako has gone up a level from the WCC at Santa Clara into the Big East, and he also fits into this Holloway system well in the Ndefo role. He might not be as elite at rim protection, but scoring at the rim against the Pirates will still be difficult all year. The Pirates allowed a ton of 3s this year thus far, and they project as an elite 3-point defense once again due to their backcourt length.

Seton Hall has made 60.9% of its 2s thus far, and it's going to have a lot more trouble scoring at the rim against Enfield's USC team. The Pirates have played a schedule of low majors, mostly weak ones ranked outside the top 300 on KenPom. USC's interior athleticism will force Seton Hall to make shots from outside the paint, and I'm a bit skeptical on the jump shooting for the Pirates.

Isaiah Collier is a projected lottery pick, and it's no surprise that the freshman has been excellent immediately for the Trojans. However, it is surprising that he and Arrinten Page have been excellent at the defensive end. Based on EvanMiya.com's projections, Page and Collier are the two best defenders on this USC roster.

There were questions about whether Enfield could maintain the elite rim defense of years past with this crop of talent. Thus far, there's been a small step back overall, but not much. The Trojans held both UC Irvine and Kansas State under 40% from inside the arc. The combination of Page and Vincent Iwuchukwu gives the Trojans a lot of fouls and size to work with in the middle.

Iwuchukwu has struggled in his first two games back after missing the first two games of the year, and he's not the only availability question for this one. DJ Rodman didn't play against Brown, he's the third option behind Boogie Ellis and Collier in this USC offense.

I'd expect Holloway to put Richmond on Ellis for the majority of this game. Richmond is one of the best defensive guards in the country, and his length can make life difficult for Ellis, an excellent scorer for USC.

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The market likes both of these defenses to take a step back at the rim this year. However, I'm not totally sold on that and believe the market is underrating both defenses. As a result, points will be harder to come by. I'd bet under 139.5 or better.

Pick: Under 141 (play to 139.5)