Scalabrine Regrets Missed Chances

A 2-3 record notwithstanding, USC has made it through one of the toughest weeks it will face this season in relatively good shape.

The Trojans had only one bad loss among the three (Utah State) and, this being a week-to-week thing, there were no long-term injuries to their top six players. The only one hobbled is sixth man Jarvis Turner, who missed the last two games of the Maui Tournament because of a bad left foot but played sparingly against Duke in Saturday’s John Wooden Classic.

Yet center Brian Scalabrine felt the Trojans missed a big opportunity in being unable to upset Duke or North Carolina.

“I don’t think we are where we want to be, as far as our record and the way we lost these games,” Scalabrine said. “We’re going to have to go heal some of our wounds. And the rest of the [nonconference schedule] we have to buckle down pretty tight.

“Before going into the Pac-10, we’ve got to really find out what we can do. Without a big win in our preseason, we’re going to have to do some damage in the Pac-10 to get a big-time [NCAA] tournament bid. It’s not like a fifth place finish will get us in now. We have to finish in the top three or four.”