Trojans Blocked Out of Victory by Oregon

It was one play, a fraction of a second, but it said volumes about USC’s loss to Oregon on Saturday night.

With 47 seconds left and the Trojans behind by two, center Brian Scalabrine got the ball under the basket. He might have dunked, but went for a layup instead and Oregon center Mike Carson blocked the shot from behind.

“I thought I had him,” Scalabrine said. “I guess you learn from your mistakes.”

It was just one of a series of misses and missteps that cost USC dearly in a 60-55 loss before 3,173 at the Sports Arena, a loss that might have cost USC any shot at postseason play.

The Trojans let an early lead slip away by shooting 32.7% from the field--26.9% in the second half--and, once again, by finishing with more turnovers than assists.

Oregon, meanwhile, got a victory in another close game. The Ducks had won or lost all of their Pacific 10 Conference games by an average of 2.5 points. They had gone to triple overtime, and won, against Washington State. They had seen victory slip away from them last month when USC’s Adam Spanich made a half-court shot at the buzzer.

“This was a real gut check tonight,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “We finally figured out how to get the job done.”

The victory raised Oregon’s record to 11-9, 3-8 in conference. USC slipped to an identical 11-9, 3-8.

The Trojans went to full-court pressure early, forcing a turnover that sparked an 8-2 run, most of those points coming from Sam Clancy. The freshman muscled inside, making two short jump shots and drawing two fouls on his way to 11 points and 14 rebounds.

“He was the bright spot in the game tonight,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “He rebounded every shot that went up and scored for us.”

Defense pushed USC into the lead a few minutes later. Spanich took a charge, then made a three-point shot to feed a 10-0 run that had the Trojans ahead by seven points.

At that point, Bibby experimented by switching forward Jarvis Turner to point guard. The experiment lasted just long enough for the 6-foot-8 Turner to throw a pass out of bounds and travel with the ball.

The miscues gave Oregon the chance it needed to get back into the game thanks to the shooting of Alex Scales and Frederick Jones. The duo accounted for 16 points on five-of-seven shooting from three-point range as the Ducks closed to within 32-29 at halftime.

Oregon continued its hot shooting into the second half as Scales, who scored a game-high 18 points, made another three-pointer and Jones, who finished with nine points, completed a three-point play on a layup and a free throw.

All the fire had gone out of USC by then, doused by a flood of missed shots and turnovers. Only Scalabrine was able to provide offense. The Ducks were on a 16-5 run and the Trojans, who had looked in command for most of the first half, were on the ropes.

Time for more lineup juggling. Bibby struck the right chord for a while as Quincy Wilder played the point and Turner came back in at forward, sinking a fall-away jumper to close the gap to 51-48.

For then on, the game settled into a war of attrition, the teams battling for a basket here, a tipin there. USC forward Jeff Trepagnier came down with a crucial defensive rebound and Clancy made a pair of free throws to even the score at 55-55 with 1:15 remaining.

But the Ducks had experience on their side. Carson responded with a pair of free throws and blocked Scalabrine’s shot. Then Scales and forward A.D. Smith sank three of four free throws in the closing seconds.