Last Shot Unlucky for USC

Aloha, Maui. And not a moment too soon.

USC let a five-point halftime lead over Utah State evaporate in less than two minutes of the second half Wednesday in the Maui Invitational, fell behind by as many as eight points before fighting back to take the lead, then wound up losing, 52-50, when Aggie guard Bernard Rock’s three-pointer banked in with nine seconds remaining.

“It was luck,” Rock said of his game-winning shot over the outstretched hand of Trojan guard Brandon Granville. “I did get a look at the basket, but at the last second Granville came at me. I was just trying to get a shot at the basket, it hit the backboard and it went in. I thank God it went in.”

Rock’s carom gave Utah State (3-1) what USC was looking for from the holiday tournament--two wins in three games. And it gave USC (2-2) plenty to think about before Saturday’s meeting with Duke in the John Wooden Classic. USC lost two of three games in Hawaii.

“We didn’t play well and they played very well,” Trojan Coach Henry Bibby said. “Give them a lot of credit; they stuck with their game plan and it seemed like we came to the game thinking that ‘we’re going home.’ It doesn’t work that way.

“They are a good team. They took Florida to a two-point win, and they do a lot of good things out on the floor. We didn’t attack them the way we should have. We just didn’t come ready to play basketball. We’re a better team than we showed.”

Guard Jeff Trepagnier showed plenty. The 6-foot-4 sophomore scored a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds, four blocked shots and 10 steals. The last item set a tournament record for steals and broke the school single-game record of eight Trepagnier set last year against Loyola Marymount.

But Trepagnier would have given anything for an 11th steal on the Aggies’ last possession. He nearly intercepted Rock’s pass to Troy Rolle in the Aggie backcourt, but Rolle gathered in the ball. Utah called timeout with 34.6 seconds left and set up Rock’s eventual winning shot.

“It was real close,” Trepagnier said. “I should have dove for the ball after I tipped it. I thought I had it.”

Said Bibby: “On that last play [Trepagnier] gambled and thought he had the steal, but you can’t gamble in that situation.

“But, really, it just wasn’t our day.”

Still, if the Trojans had shot a little better, the contest might not have come down to a final shot.

In the first half, Trepagnier made seven of his 10 attempts, but the other starters were a combined five of 18.

And four of those field goals belonged to David Bluthenthal.

Utah State opened the second half with a 17-4 run, then sealed their 2-3 zone defense around the perimeter. Sam Clancy was only two for 10, Brian Scalabrine made four of only six shots, though one was a three-pointer with 2:35 left that gave USC a 50-49 lead, and Granville was scoreless. He went 0 for 10 from the field and 0 for 1 from the free-throw line.

Granville wound up taking USC’s final shot, trying to throw the ball up among three Aggies from about six feet, but the shot wasn’t close.