Clancy Willingly Shoulders Burden of Loss to Pepperdine

The day after its shocking last-second 78-77 loss to Pepperdine, USC was taking it in, wondering how it squandered an 11-point lead with fewer than seven minutes to play.

Sam Clancy, who missed two free throws with 11 seconds remaining in the game, had an idea.

“I basically just choked,” the Trojan senior power forward said Friday night. “That’s all you can say. The first [attempt] was a little short and the second one, I rushed it and it was a brick. It was just terrible, I mean, I’ve got to concentrate more at the line, especially when I can put the game way at the end.”

USC had a foul to give in the game’s final eight seconds but couldn’t use it before Pepperdine guard Craig Lewis unleashed a three-point prayer from the top right of the key, barely beyond Clancy’s reach. The ball banked off the backboard and the Waves had their second victory over a Los Angeles Pacific 10 school in eight days, having upset UCLA on Nov. 28.

USC had only one field goal in the final eight minutes. Clancy, who led all scorers with 25 points, had only one field goal in the game’s final 14 minutes. After making seven of 10 free throws in the first half, he was 0 for 3 after halftime.

“We weren’t playing as aggressively as we were to get the lead,” Clancy said. “It seemed as though we were playing not to lose.”