A Sour Night for Trojan Freshmen

USC’s freshmen sauntered into Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night, but point guard Gabe Pruitt and swingman Nick Young most definitely staggered out of the old college basketball palace.

The two, who both had designs on the Pacific 10 Conference freshman-of-the-year award, saw their plans take a beating along with their team during UCLA’s 90-69 demolition of the Trojans.

“It’s crazy playing in Pauley Pavilion,” said Young, who suffered through a one-for-eight shooting night, finishing with two points and five rebounds in 28 minutes. “Their crowd is great and [the Bruins] really came out and beat us.

“They were scoring at will and picked us apart all night.”

USC interim Coach Jim Saia said the big-game atmosphere might have spooked the Trojan underclassmen.

“We need to keep the game plan simple,” Saia said. “The game plan was a little too complex for some of our guys.”

In the first meeting this season between the Trojans and Bruins, on Jan. 29 when UCLA overcame an 18-point halftime deficit at the Sports Arena en route to a 72-69 victory, Pruitt and Young outscored the UCLA freshmen, Arron Afflalo, Jordan Farmar, Josh Shipp and Lorenzo Mata, by a combined 41-37. This time around, Afflalo, Farmar and Shipp outscored USC’s freshman duo, 39-12. Mata didn’t play.

“I really couldn’t feel it,” Pruitt said of his shot. “Foul trouble hurt me early and took me out of my rhythm.”

In the first half, Pruitt fouled Afflalo outside the three-point arc on the left wing with two seconds remaining on the shot clock. Pruitt then picked up his second foul at the 9:04 mark, when the Trojans trailed by only 27-23.

By the time he returned, 2:45 before halftime, the Bruins had built a 13-point advantage. Even with Pruitt in the game for the closing minutes of the first half, UCLA extended its lead to 19 points, 49-30, before Lodrick Stewart hit a three-pointer.

How bad did it get for Pruitt, who finished with 10 points, two assists and three turnovers? He had his attempt at a monster dunk along the baseline stuffed by the Bruins’ Brian Morrison, who was giving up two inches to Pruitt.

But it wasn’t all bad for Pruitt. With his 61st three-pointer of the season, Pruitt eclipsed the USC freshman record of 60 set by Harold Miner in 1989-90.

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It only seemed as if Jeff McMillan was the only Trojan to show up.

McMillan continued his strong offensive play in the post, finishing with team highs in points (17) and rebounds (eight).

With the Trojans trailing by 32 points, he was still imploring his teammates to play hard.

“It’s easy to do that when you’re having a good game,” said the senior power forward, who underwent foot surgery last summer and missed four games after suffering a broken hand in the Trojans’ third game this season. “I was feeling it tonight.

“It’s just a carry-over from practice. I’ve got my legs completely under me [and] I feel strong.”

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Senior forward Nick Curtis, who has fallen out of favor with the Trojan coaching staff and has played only in every other game over the past month, entered the game with 6:44 to play and USC trailing by 32 points. With seven points and two rebounds in five minutes, it was Curtis’ most productive outing since Jan. 20.

“It felt good to work up a little sweat,” he said. “I just wanted to get out there and run up and down the court with my team.”

As for his new role?

“I’ve just got to deal with it, can’t do nothing about it.”

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The 60.7% UCLA shot from the field was a USC opponents’ season high. ... USC’s 26 rebounds were a season low.