USC loses to Washington in overtime, 73-67, in Pac-10 opener

As USC basketball Coach Kevin O’Neill walked into his news conference Thursday night, still trying to swallow his team’s 73-67 overtime loss to Washington, he muttered, simply, “Guess we’re not top-20 like everyone thought.”

The Trojans (8-6) entered their Pacific 10 Conference opener with momentum, having won four of five, including beating two ranked teams.

And they had started to believe, along with a growing audience, that they were better than the predicted sixth-place league finish designated for them in the preseason.

In fact, their belief stretched to the idea that they could even beat talented-but-vulnerable Washington (9-3), the overwhelming favorite to win the conference.

But after a few costly mistakes in the final minutes of overtime -- a pair of missed free throws and two turnovers that should’ve been buckets -- USC is forced to step back.

“That’s unfortunate,” O’Neill said. “We wasted an incredible performance by Nik.”

“Nik” is junior forward Nikola Vucevic, who scored a career-high 28 points, making all 14 of his free throws, while grabbing 14 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.

The 6-foot-10 Serbian almost single-handedly kept the Trojans in the game, as they struggled all night against a zone defense.

But Vucevic didn’t. He scored the Trojans’ final seven points of regulation. USC had a chance to win, holding the ball with 6.5 seconds left.

“K.O. told me, you just have to score, take over the game,” Vucevic said.

Yet rather than call a timeout on that final possession -- USC had two -- the Trojans tried to go the length of the court. They never got off a shot.

“That was my call,” O’Neill said.

Washington led by two points with 2 minutes 47 seconds left in overtime when USC’s Alex Stepheson missed two free throws. The Huskies then scored four straight.

USC twice had costly turnovers in the final minutes. Stepheson, who is still playing with a fractured left hand, fumbled a ball out of bounds when he was wide open beneath the basket, and junior guard Jio Fontan stepped out of bounds when driving along the baseline.

“There were just a couple things that we didn’t do at the end that cost us the game,” Vucevic said.

Fontan struggled, scoring 14 points on four-for-14 shooting.

Washington had five players score in double figures, led by forward Matt Bryan-Amaning and Terrence Ross, who each had 18.

The Huskies out-rebounded USC, 44-28. USC had won that category nine of 13 games entering Wednesday.

USC’s reserves were outscored, 29-7.

USC did hold Washington to well under its scoring average of 90.5 points entering the game.

Washington fans made the Galen Center the Huskies’ home away from home, barking all game long during what for many was a stopover before continuing on to San Diego for Thursday’s Holiday Bowl between Washington and Nebraska.

USC’s defense helped quiet them and it stymied the Huskies’ point-a-second offense early, as the Trojans jumped out to a 16-4 lead.

But that lead didn’t last when Washington switched from a man-to-man defense to zone. Washington used a 14-3 run to close within one, and took its first lead, 28-26, when Ross made a three-point shot with 1:03 left in the half.

baxter.holmes@latimes.com