COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENT : Miner Difficulties Finish USC : Trojans: Sophomore makes only seven of 27 shots as Florida State holds on to win, 75-72.

USC Coach George Raveling pulled guard Harold Miner aside before the Trojans met Florida State in an NCAA Southeast Regional game Thursday night and warned Miner not to press.

“There had been so much hype about Harold and I was concerned that he’d try to live up to it,” Raveling said. “I told Harold that the worst thing he could do was try to live up to other people’s expectations. I said, ‘Harold, just let the game come to you.’ ”

After listening to Raveling’s advice, Miner suffered through one of the worst shooting nights of his two-year college career, making only seven of 27 shots as the Seminoles eliminated the Trojans, 75-72, at Freedom Hall.

“I feel I got quality shots,” said Miner, who took more shots than he has ever attempted in a college game. “They were shots I normally take, but they didn’t fall for me tonight.”

Miner, whose first shot was an airball, made only four of 14 shots in the first half and only three of 13 in the second half. Averaging 23.8 points, Miner scored 16 points. He made only two of 12 three-point shots.

One play seemed to sum up Miner’s misery. After making a steal with 3 1/2 minutes left in the game and the Trojans trailing by six points, Miner hurried a three-point shot that became his second airball.

“I felt bad from the standpoint that people didn’t get a chance to see the real Harold Miner,” Raveling said. “Out of the shots he took, he might have taken two bad shots. But those are the type of shots that got us into the tournament. Those are the type of shots he normally makes.

“If he would have had one of his normal 30-point games, it would have elevated him to a preseason first-team All-American next year. A lot of people will go away saying, ‘Is this guy really that good?’ The thing he’ll have to do is use it as a source of motivation to prepare himself for next season.

“But I would suspect that over the course of four years the country will come to realize that he’s truly one of the outstanding players. There was not much physical evidence of that tonight. But one game doesn’t make a season, and one game doesn’t make a career, and one game doesn’t make a star.”

Was Miner embarrassed to play so poorly in his first appearance on network TV?

“You keep it in the back of your mind, but you can’t dwell on it,” Miner said. “That’s just the way things go sometimes. I guess it wasn’t meant for me to play well tonight.”

In an attempt to confound Miner and the Trojans, Florida State switched defenses throughout the game, using a diamond-and-one zone, a one-three-one zone and a man-to-man with guard Aubry Boyd checking Miner.

“They call Miner ‘Baby Jordan’ and I took it at as a challenge to go out and play my best against him,” Boyd said. “I have longer arms than him so he had to shoot everything across his body and I was able to alter all his shots.”

Miner maintained he wasn’t bothered by the Seminoles’ multiple defensive alignments.

“I’ve seen just about every defense,” Miner said. “So that didn’t make any difference. I got the shots I wanted. That’s just the way it goes.”

While the Seminoles contained Miner, the Trojans were unable to contain forward Doug Edwards, who had 24 points, including 14 in the second half, and nine rebounds. Edwards made nine of 13 shots and six of 10 free throws as the Seminoles earned their eighth consecutive victory.

“Edwards is obviously one of the outstanding young basketball players in the country,” Raveling said. “What he brings to the floor is versatility. He can play inside and he can play outside and he goes to the glass really well. I think he has a big-time future.”

The Trojans, who started poorly in their final two regular-season games, got off to a slow start at the beginning of both halves. USC, which was making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1985, seemed nervous at the start. The Trojans missed their first three shots and had two turnovers in their first five possessions as the Seminoles took an 8-0 lead.

But the Trojans recovered to take a 36-31 lead before Florida State rallied to tie, 38-38, at the break.

Then, USC started even worse in the second half, when Florida State blitzed the Trojans, 15-4, in the first four minutes after halftime.

The situation looked even bleaker for USC after forward Ronnie Coleman and guard Robert Pack, who scored a team-high 20 points, got into foul trouble.

But USC outscored the Seminoles, 8-0, in 3:09 to cut it to 55-52 when Miner made a 15-foot jumper with 12:17 remaining. However, Florida State used a 14-7 run to forge a 69-59 lead with 3:58 left. The Trojans cut it to six, but Pack fouled out when he was called for charging on an inbounds play under the Seminole basket with 2:21 left. Florida State expanded its lead to eight points after Edwards made two free throws.

Miner made his last two shots, a three-point shot and an 18-foot jumper, but the Trojans (19-10) couldn’t catch the Seminoles (21-10), who face No. 3 Indiana in a second-round game Saturday.

Trojan Notes

Forward Ronnie Coleman, who had 15 points before fouling out, ended his career as USC’s career scoring leader with 1,727 points. . . . The 27 shots Harold Miner attempted were one shy of the school record for single-game field goal attempts, which was set by Bill Hewitt in 1966 against UCLA. Miner’s worst shooting performance for USC was last season when he made five of 20 shots in an 80-57 season-ending loss to Arizona in the Pac-10 tournament. . . . USC has a 5-10 record in NCAA play, losing its last four tournament games.

* OUSTED: Syracuse, seeded No. 2 in the East Regional, is eliminated by No. 15 Richmond, 73-69. C9