Suddenly, Focus Has Changed for USC

USC’s dreams went from gold to bronze Wednesday night, and it didn’t take UCLA’s J.R. Henderson to tell them that.

After losing to UCLA, 82-60, at Pauley Pavilion, a team that only a week ago was tied for first place in the Pacific 10 Conference and talking title and NCAA tournament bid, drastically changed its focus.

“Hopefully, we can finish in the top half of the conference,” Trojan Coach Henry Bibby said. “If we do that, who knows what happens.”

USC could have been motivated by Henderson’s remarks before the game that the Trojans were “just SC” and even looked it for the first 15 minutes of the game, but then fell apart. It now faces a harsh reality.

With four games left, USC (14-9, 9-5) is a longshot for the NCAA tournament, and even longer for the conference title, sitting two games behind UCLA in fourth place.

The Trojans have to play Oregon and Oregon State at home and Washington State and Washington on the road.

“We have to win at least three out of four to get in [the NCAA tournament]” said Stais Boseman, who finished with 10 points, only two in the second half. “We have a long way to go. We’ve had problems on the road and I don’t think we have a big-time win on the road.”

Guard Elias Ayuso’s criteria was greater: “We have to win all four.”

A victory Wednesday was unlikely considering what USC showed in the final 25 minutes.

The Trojans led, 26-18, on Ayuso’s three-point shot with 5:20 left in the first half, and had Henderson and Cameron Dollar on the bench, but they were outscored, 11-2, to end the half. They then watched UCLA go on a 20-8 run in the second.

“We just stopped executing,” said center David Crouse, who led USC with 18 points. “We stopped doing all the things that got us the lead. We stopped getting the ball inside. . . . I know I took some bad shots outside. And, we started relying more on our outside shooting.”

USC may not even split its final four games unless senior Rodrick Rhodes shows more than he did against the Bruins.

Rhodes was one of six from the field and scored only four points, the third consecutive game he has not been a force on offense.

Bibby and Boseman praised UCLA, which won its sixth in a row in the series, but also felt USC missed an opportunity.

“This is real frustrating,” Boseman said. “With all the hype in the media, to come out here and win would have been a big win.

“This is devastating, especially for me, because I am a senior and I haven’t beaten these guys in like the last five or six tries.”

“[Getting them in foul trouble] was what we were hoping for,” Bibby said. “But we couldn’t put them away and that is a sign of the great players they have.”