They’re Bubbling Over

In years past it had been so easy, because for so long USC has known only defeat, disappointment and immediate closure.

But Saturday before 6,159 at Washington’s Hec Edmundson Pavilion, the Trojans felt the other side of success--the sadness of inching toward an NCAA tournament bid but then likely falling just short.

USC lost to the Huskies, 94-84, and saw its NCAA aspirations all but end. Then in a quiet locker room, the Trojans covered their faces, held back the tears . . . and mourned.

“I know what’s going to happen,” senior Rodrick Rhodes said of the expected omission of USC (17-10, 12-6) when the field of 64 is announced today, “but they shouldn’t do that.”

Over and over Rhodes pleaded USC’s case, talking about the fight in the team, how it turned itself into a second-place finisher in the Pacific 10 Conference, when, to start the season, most thought it was no better than eighth.

He saw nothing but nods of agreement from teammates, but most realized what was lost Saturday.

“We deserve it. They should give us a chance,” said Rhodes, who scored a career-high 32 points. “I don’t see why they can’t take five teams [from the Pac-10]. We beat the right teams . . . but I know there are a lot of teams with big wins and big tradition also trying to get in.”

Others tried to put the right face on--part denial, part politics.

“I feel good about our chances,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “We finished tied for second [with Stanford and California], and there is a team below us [Arizona] that is not on the bubble. They will take at least four teams and if they want to take a fifth, then Arizona will get in. There is no logic for them to get in over us.

“We beat Cal, Stanford and Arizona. We beat a lot of teams nobody thought we could beat.”

But the one USC needed the most was Saturday, one final victory that would allow the Trojans to finish ahead of all conference schools considered more worthy by the selection committee and thus force its hand.

But while Washington committed a school-record 34 turnovers and USC was called for 36 fouls, the Trojans ended up in a chase and never caught up.

“This is a game not easy to explain,” Husky Coach Bob Bender said. “The officials got their money’s worth.”

The most costly of USC’s fouls came with 5:46 left when Stais Boseman fouled out leaping for a ball in front of Husky 7-footer Pat Femmerling. USC trailed by only seven, 74-67, after being down by as many as 18.

A distraught Boseman ran around the court complaining and repeatedly returned to the court to question the call with the officials. He eventually was given a technical for kicking the scorer’s table.

“A bad, bad call,” Boseman said. “I had the ball and [Femmerling] reached over me.”

Husky Jamie Booker (18 points) made the technical foul shots, and then Deon Luton made a three-point basket for a 12-point Washington lead that proved insurmountable.

The Huskies shot 61% for the game (27 of 44) to USC’s 35%, but the true difference was at the free-throw line, where the Huskies took 45 shots and made 32. USC was 22 of 28.

“We came out and played very hard, very aggressive and I think the officials took us out of the game with the fouls,” Bibby said. “[Washington] was shooting the bonus with 15 minutes left. There’s no game there. They took away from the game.”

The officiating might have put USC at a disadvantage, but Washington’s generous ways gave the Trojans a chance.

“We had our destiny in our own hands today with 34 turnovers and we couldn’t win,” Boseman said. “It’s terrible.”

USC pressed nearly the entire game, but was equally frantic on the offensive end, forcing shots, most from the outside. USC had no presence inside with Femmerling and 7-foot Todd MacCulloch on the floor together most of the game. It didn’t help that senior forward Jaha Wilson played only five minutes because of the lingering effects of a mild concussion suffered in Thursday’s game at Washington State.

“Every time we have gotten down, we have made a run and got back in it, but tonight we just didn’t hit the shots,” Trojan center David Crouse said. “This is a tough way to end it.”

Because USC turned itself into an NCAA tournament contender for the first time since 1992, it positioned itself for such an end, when at 3:30 p.m. today it will probably see its at-large bid handed to another school.

And shortly after, the Trojans probably will take a bid to the National Invitation Tournament with fake smiles on their faces.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we get to go to the NIT, I would have taken it,” Bibby said. “We can still put on our mantel that we finished second.

“We are ready to continue on.”