Trojans Lose, but Don’t Quit : College basketball: USC gets off to bad start, then falls to Rhode Island, 87-74.

USC may have been the forgotten team when the Rainbow Classic began, but the Trojans think they earned some respect when the tournament ended Saturday night.

After rallying twice from double-digit deficits, USC fell short in an 87-74 loss to Rhode Island at the Special Events Arena to finish fourth in a tournament that began with four undefeated teams and four teams ranked in the top 20.

“I think that everyone at the tournament was surprised by the character of our team in that we never quit,” said USC guard Cameron Murray, who scored 16 points and had eight assists against Rhode Island. “In each game, we played hard and fought to the very end.”

In playing its first unranked team in four games, USC (7-4) got off to a terrible start against the Rams, who were soundly beaten by Syracuse in Friday’s semifinal.

Rhode Island (7-3) raced to a 10-0 lead before USC could blink. The Trojans, who defeated No. 18 Missouri in the first round before losing to No. 1 Massachusetts in the semifinals, did not score their first points until Stais Boseman made a jumper with 16:37 remaining in the first half.

Rhode Island rode the three-point shooting of Josh King, who made three three-pointers in the half, to take a commanding 15-4 lead at the 15:02 mark.

That’s when USC Coach Charlie Parker decided that he had seen enough of his starters and brought in reserves Craig Slaughter, Damion Dawson, Tyson Reuter, David Crouse and Maurice Strong.

“I told the players right from the beginning that this was going to be a mental game because fatigue would play a part in this being our third game in three nights,” Parker said. “I took out our starters because I didn’t think that they were playing hard. I didn’t think that the guys were focused.”

USC’s reserves did not do much better as the Trojans missed 11 of their first 13 shots from the field, while Rhode Island stretched its lead to 22-6 with 12:29 remaining.

Parker then sent his starters--Avondre Jones, Jaha Wilson (18 points), Brandon Martin, Boseman and Murray--back into the game and his move appeared to have worked as the Trojans rallied to outscore the Rams, 16-2, over the next five minutes.

The Trojans then kept true to a pattern they had developed throughout the tournament by letting Rhode Island regroup to stretch its lead to 39-31 on King’s third three-pointer of the half. The Rams ended up leading at halftime, 44-37, on a desperation three-pointer by Tyson Wheeler at the buzzer.

Wheeler, a sophomore point guard, directed the Rams’ offense and frustrated USC with his penetration.

“He is a great player who we knew we had to slow down,” Parker said. “He’s so dangerous once he penetrates. We couldn’t control or stop him.”

In the second half, USC made a defensive switch by moving Boseman to guard Wheeler instead of Murray, and the tactic worked early as USC scored the first nine points to take a 46-44 lead on a two-handed dunk by Jones. From there, USC and Rhode Island exchanged a couple of baskets before Wheeler and King took over.

Wheeler, who finished with 21 points, 10 assists and five steals, and King, who finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, led a Rhode Island rally that saw the Rams take a 72-61 lead with 5:21 remaining.

“We had our chances, but we just forgot how we got there and that was by rebounding and doing things like diving for loose balls,” Parker said. “I think that we represented ourselves well here. We had opportunities to win [all three games].”

Added Jones, who tied a Rainbow Classic single-game record with eight blocked shots: “Playing so many good teams in this tournament should help us when we start Pac-10. It showed that we can play with good competition and that we’re going to get better.”