Little Things by Boyd Are Big for Trojans

With its slim postseason tournament hopes in the balance, USC needed two big plays from Mark Boyd in the final minute to defeat Washington, 56-55, Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

After the Trojans blew a 10-point lead early in the second half, Boyd’s defensive hustle and layup with 20 seconds to play gave USC a Pacific 10 Conference victory before 3,163.

USC improved to 8-7 in the Pac-10 and 15-9 overall with three games to play. Washington, which defeated the Trojans at Seattle last month, is 7-9 and 13-12.

Although he did not have one of his better games statistically, Boyd was a hero in the USC locker room, thanks to his play in the game’s closing moments.

With USC ahead, 53-52, Boyd hustled for a rebound of a missed shot by Trojan guard Phil Glenn with 28 seconds to play. The ball was knocked out of bounds by Washington’s Martin Keane.

USC retained possession and Washington had to foul in an attempt to get the ball. At the time, the Huskies had three fouls to give before sending the Trojans to the free-throw line.

“I felt pretty good then because I knew they had to foul,” USC Coach George Raveling said.

After Washington fouled again, Boyd broke free on USC’s inbounds play for a layup to give the Trojans a 55-52 lead.

With time running down, Boyd dived for a loose ball after a missed shot by Washington. The play led to a free throw by Glenn to clinch the game for USC.

“Those critical plays he made at the end were big time for us,” Trojan Coach George Raveling said. “One thing about Boyd is that he always plays hard.”

In a way, Boyd redeemed himself with his play because early in the first half, he was in Raveling’s doghouse.

“Raveling is an emotional coach,” said Boyd, who finished with six points and six rebounds. “It felt good when he hugged me after I made those plays at the end.”

From the start, Washington gave USC problems with its size advantage in 6-foot-10 center Rich Manning and 6-9 forward Mark Pope, who entered the game with a combined average of 30 points and 16 rebounds a game.

To combat the disadvantage, USC effectively pressed Washington in the first half and forced the Huskies into 10 of their 14 turnovers.

USC led, 27-20, at halftime with Glenn having scored seven points. But the big standout for the Trojans was Lorenzo Orr, who had seven first-half rebounds in a reserve role.

He finished with a game-high 14 rebounds, nine coming at the offensive end.

“Orr was awesome on the backboards,” Raveling said. “He might have had a game with bigger numbers, but tonight they were all crucial rebounds. That was important, because Washington is a physical team inside.”

USC led, 32-22, two minutes into the second half before Washington rallied behind Manning, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds; and Pope, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Washington outscored USC, 10-3, during a late run and cut the Trojans’ lead to 51-50 on a turnaround jump shot by Manning with 2:30 to play.

However, the Huskies never were able to take the lead, thanks to a running bank shot by USC’s Rodney Chatman with 1:22 left before Boyd took over.

USC will play Washington State on Saturday at home before making its final trip of the season to play Arizona and Arizona State.