USC Savors Victory : Fans, Players at Pauley Pavilion Celebrate Trojans’ First Sweep of Bruins in 43 Years

USC fans crowded to midcourt and waved symbolic brooms late Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. Some of the players joined in the celebration.

It has been 43 years since the Trojans swept a season series from the Bruins, and they did it the hard way--a gut-wrenching, exhausting four-overtime game.

USC Coach Stan Morrison said that neither team deserved to lose. As it was, though, reserve center Charlie Simpson scored on a layup with two seconds remaining in the fourth overtime as the Trojans won, 80-78.

Simpson took a pass from guard Larry Friend, who hurried down court after UCLA guard Dave Immel missed two free throws with 10 seconds remaining.

“I thought the ball would go to Wayne Carlander, our money man,” said Simpson, a 6-10 sophomore from Colorado. “But my man (Kelvin Butler) left me, and I was all alone.”

So the Trojans are alone in first place in the Pac-10 with a 12-4 record, one game ahead of Arizona and Washington.

USC plays host to Oregon Thursday night, then concludes the regular season against Oregon State Saturday afternoon at the Sports Arena.

Carlander was the marathon man for the Trojans. He performed for 59 minutes and scored a career-high 38 points. He got 31 at Pauley Pavilion last year when the Trojans lost to the Bruins in one overtime.

“Sure, you feel tired,” he said. “You don’t jump as high and you try to save yourself to get a rebound.”

Carlander made 14 of 19 shots and pulled down 13 rebounds.

“I missed my first shot, but then I felt fine,” said Carlander, who was 7 for 8 from the field in the first half. “Some nights your body just feels good. I don’t know why.”

Carlander, a senior, who has started every game since his freshman season, said his first win in Pauley Pavilion was a gratifying one.

“I told our team before the game that this was the most important game for USC in 25 years,” Morrison said. “We’ll know in a month or so.”

USC hasn’t won a conference championship in 24 years. So Morrison might not be overstating the case.

“We missed enough free throws (USC was 30 of 48 from the line) to win 10 overtime games,” Morrison said. “There were so many tired kids on the floor, and nobody deserved to lose.

“I told Walt Hazzard that I was never happier to win a game, but I also felt sorry for him and his team.”

Hazzard said that Carlander is the Player of the Year in the Pac-10 but didn’t care to comment much about the game.

“It certainly doesn’t taste good,” he said. “I hope this is the last time we lose to USC while I am coaching here. I feel sorry for our kids, but I really don’t have much to say tonight.

“They beat us at the free-throw line. I don’t know how a team can go on the road and shoot 48 free throws, but they did. It was a tough loss.”

A four-overtime game is, of course, uncommon. But Morrison has been through it before. While playing for California, he participated in a four-overtime game against Iowa in a Los Angeles Classic game in 1960.

“But we lost that one,” he said.