5 Southern California vs. 4 Texas

Region: East

Coach: Tim Floyd

Record: 24-11

Leading scorer: Forward/Guard Nick Young, 17.4

Friday’s leading scorer:

Young 20

Leading rebounder: Forward Taj Gibson, 8.4

Friday’s leading rebounder: Gibson 8

Keys to victory:

1. Rebounding. When Texas’ two big men are rebounding, said USC coach Tim Floyd, they are hard to beat. Keeping them off the boards as much as possible will be imperative.

2. Deny transition. Texas, said USC guard Lodrick Stewart, is extremely fast and physical. So the Trojans must get back quickly and prevent Texas from getting easy baskets.

3. Play hard and keep Kevin Durant off the free-throw line. If he’s going to score, said Floyd, he’d rather have him shooting 3-pointers. But players and coaches say they can’t focus their defensive efforts solely on him. “There’re other guys around him,” said USC point guard Gabe Pruitt.

Region: East

Coach: Rick Barnes

Record: 25-9

Leading scorer: Forward/Guard Kevin Durant, 25.6

Friday’s leading scorer:

Durant 27

Leading rebounder: Durant, 11.3

Friday’s leading rebounder: Durant 8

Keys to victory:

1. Help defense and team. USC, say Longhorns players, have the whole complement of guards and posts.

“We know we’re going to have to really work hard staying in front of the ball,” said Texas coach Rick Barnes. “We know they will look to post because of our size. But we’re going to have to have a great team defensive effort to be successful against those guys.”

2. Turn double teams into gold. If the Trojans choose to double Durant or A.J. Abrams, they are counting on finding open teammates for baskets.

3. Run the offense better than Friday. “I would be surprised if we don’t come out and play better in terms of the way we want to execute,” said Barnes.