USC Going to NIT Roundup Against Cowboys at Wyoming

Adam Spanich told his teammates not to worry. All day long, he just knew the USC basketball team would get a telephone call from the National Invitation Tournament.

“I wasn’t nervous,” Spanich said. “I had a feeling.”

And the senior guard was right. NIT officials called Sunday evening to invite the Trojans to play at Wyoming in a first-round game Wednesday.

It wasn’t quite like being invited to the NCAA tournament, but for a team that was mired in a six-game losing streak at midseason, a team that needed a last-gasp turnaround to stay above .500, even the NIT wasn’t a sure thing.

“We’ve been really hot lately,” Spanich said. “That’s why I knew.”

This will be USC’s third trip to the NIT in seven years. The Trojans reached the quarterfinals in 1993 and lost in the first round in 1994. This time, they fought their way into the 32-team draw by winning four of their last six games, including Saturday’s 11-point road victory over another NIT hopeful, Arizona State.

“We don’t win [Saturday], it would be tough seeing us get in,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “We responded with a victory in a game where we had our backs to the wall.”

The season finale gave USC a 15-12 record and reinforced earlier wins over Stanford, Washington and Arkansas State, three teams in the more prestigious NCAA field. Still, there was cause for concern when the NCAA selection committee bypassed California and Oregon, both of which finished above USC in the Pacific 10 Conference standings.

That meant the Trojans entered the NIT field as a third representative from the Pac-10.

Bibby saw the invitation as a sign of recovery for a program that reached the NCAA tournament two years ago but stumbled to a 9-19 record last season. He insists the Trojans, with two freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup, shouldn’t feel as if they are going to a second-rate event.

“I love it,” Bibby said. “We’re young and we weathered the storm. People can look and say, ‘They were playing much better at the end.’ ”

People might say the same about Wyoming, which won its season finale against another NIT team, Nevada Las Vegas. Led by center Ugo Udezue, a 6-foot-8 sophomore who averages 20.5 points and 7.7 rebounds, the Cowboys finished 17-9, 7-7 in the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference.

Other than that, the USC players and coaches didn’t know much about Wyoming as of Sunday night.

“I know that they are very athletic and they press a lot,” Spanich said.

That, and one more thing.

Spanich has a feeling about his own team. He talked to some of the younger players Sunday, players such as sophomore center Brian Scalabrine, telling them to relax.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Spanich said. “We’re going to Wyoming and we’re going to get a victory.”