LOS ANGELES, Calif. — It's UCLA that has the college basketball tradition in Los Angeles, not USC. But don't think for a minute that Indiana's game with the Trojans on Tuesday will be any easier just because the history isn't there.

USC, which is well coached by Eric Musselman, actually has a better record than Indiana right now and they cause a lot of problems of their own. Half of their Big Ten losses have come against top-10 teams in Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue, and the other three have all been close. And they're a slight favorite in the late night game against the Hoosiers on Tuesday in LA. 

Indiana is looking for its third straight Big Ten road win, which hasn't happened in an uninterrupted season since 2016 (see note below.)

Here's how to watch Tuesday's game, along with three newsy nuggets on Eric Musselman, USC's injury situation and the Hoosiers' rare road success.

Who: Indiana Hoosiers (15-7, 6-5 in Big Ten) at USC Trojans (16-6, 5-6 in Big Ten).
What: Big Ten conference regular season game, Indiana's first ever at USC.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 3, 10 p.m. ET.
Where: Galen Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: Peacock — Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Matt Muehleback (analyst).
Radio: IU Radio Network — Don Fischer (play-by-play), Errek Suhr (analyst), John Herrick
Point spread: USC is a 1.5-point favorite over Indiana, and the over/under is 151.5 points, according to the Fanduel.com gambling website.
Series history: Indiana leads the series 3-2. There is very little history between the two schools, the least amount of contests played between Indiana and the four new West Coast schools to join the Big Ten. Indiana played in Los Angeles in 1937, 1940 and 1960 in regular-season meetings, and played one postseason game, on March 18, 1974 in the finals of the Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament in St. Louis. Indiana won 85-60.
Last meeting: Indiana beat USC 82-69 in Bloomington on Jan. 8, 2025 in the first-ever meeting as Big Ten colleagues. Oumar Ballo led Indiana with 23 points and eight rebounds. 

1. ERIC MUSSELMAN'S INDIANA TIES: USC coach Eric Musselman is 61 years old now, but he's been around coaching for nearly four decades. His dad, Bill Musselman, coached at Minnesota in the early 1970s, so he knows about the Big Ten, too. Eric coached pro ball at various levels for years, including stints as the head coach at Golden State and Sacramento. He settled into college coaching at Nevada, and spent 2015-19 there. When he moved on to Arkansas, he was replaced by former Indiana legend Steve Alford at Nevada. He was at Arkansas for five years and former Hoosier Keith Smart was a long-time assistant. He moved to USC two years ago when they joined the Big Ten. 

2. FIGHTING THE INJURY BUG: USC made a big splash in the transfer portal when it grabbed Rodney Rice from Maryland. He averages 20.3 points in their first six games, but went down with a shoulder injury that required surgery. He's out for the year. So is  Amarion Dickerson, another key transfer, who was hurt a week after Rice and never returned. USC was 8-0 at the time, and they are 8-6 since.

3. HOOSIERS ON A ROAD ROLL: Indiana has won two consecutive Big Ten road games, beating Rutgers on Jan. 23 and at UCLA on Saturday in double overtime. They shoot for three road wins in a row — which is very rare for the Hoosiers. They won three road games in a row in the 2021 COVID season, but got a bit of a break there when road games at Michigan State and Michigan were postponed or cancelled during the streak. They last won three in a row on the road in 2016, when they beat Rutgers, Nebraska and Minnesota on their way to the Big Ten title.