COLLEGE BASKETBALL NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Someone Rewrote the Script

I never did believe this USC basketball season.

Still can’t.

Not the last-second victories over Ohio State and Arizona, the last-minute comebacks against California and Stanford, or the twin upsets of UCLA.

Especially not the missile from Peachtree Street Saturday that sent Georgia Tech instead of USC to the next round of the NCAA tournament.

“Trojans” was “Hoosiers” with a sad ending.

There will be no Final Four for USC. Not even a Sweet 16.

But there will be memories of what must rank as the most exciting and unlikely season since the opener against Polytechnic High in 1907.

An undersized team billed as “Harold and His Buddies”--All-American guard Harold Miner and his modestly skilled supporting cast--was picked by many to finish in the second division of the Pacific 10 Conference.

Instead, it finished second in the conference, sixth and eighth in the national polls, and first in a number of hearts.

On opening night of the NCAA tournament, the surprises continued.

Miner was the leading scorer, but the star against Northeast Lousiana on Thursday was a reserve freshman forward nicknamed “Fat Boy.”

Tremayne Anchrum scored 14 points during the first half Thursday, only 10 fewer than he had scored in the first 28 games.

Anchrum didn’t play a minute against Georgia Tech on Saturday.

But the hero of this first half was another guy who had been limited to cameo roles most of the season.

Dwayne Hackett was the reason USC led at halftime, 39-38, instead of trailing by a dozen or so.

You could have sworn that those numbers were a malfunction of the Bradley Center scoreboard after the way Georgia Tech dominated most of the first 20 minutes.

The Yellow Jackets led, 7-2, after 2:00, 26-14 after 11:13 and 36-31 after 17:09.

They not only were bigger and stronger than the Trojans, they also seemed to be quicker.

They made Miner disappear.

But Hackett, summoned from the bench because he is better outside than inside and three-pointers were needed instead of two-pointers, bombed away until the Trojans took the lead after 18:14.

He was four for five on three-pointers. Three of his baskets were fired from slightly in front of the Georgia Tech bench.

Hackett had turned the Rambling Wrecks into Scrambling Wrecks.

The 6-1, 170-pound junior from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., scored 12 points in five minutes after scoring 86 points in 28 games.

“I got a couple to go down, and then Coach Raveling told me to keep looking for my shot,” said Hackett in the locker room that usually houses the Marquette basketball team.

The second half was quieter for Hackett.

The Trojans took an 11-point lead without him and he missed his only attempt--from beyond the three-point line, naturally--in seven minutes of playing time.

“Everybody on our team did his best to win,” Hackett said. “That’s what makes it so tough. I would rather lose by 30 or 35 points.”

Georgia Tech freshman forward James Forrest had ended “Trojans” with the first three-point basket of his collegiate career as the buzzer sounded.

What a crazy plot twist.