Coming down the final stretch of the regular season, USC's men's basketball team wasn't even assured of having a spot in the Big Ten tournament, where only 15 of 18 teams make it onto the bracket.

But the Trojans did just enough with a win over Washington earlier this week (even when followed by a 90-63 loss at UCLA on Saturday) to make the cut and claim the No. 14 seed in the field.

The Trojans (15-16, 7-13 Big Ten) will open conference tournament play Wednesday vs. No. 11-seed Rutgers (15-16, 8-12) in the late game of the day at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with the winner advancing to play No. 6 Purdue on Thursday.

USC, which lost eight of its final 10 games with the lone wins coming over two teams that missed the Big Ten tournament cut in Washington and Penn State, lost 95-85 at Rutgers in late February in the teams' only regular-season meeting.