Players Won’t Assume Bid Is Lock

Are they in?

Are 20 wins and 10 Pacific 10 Conference victories enough to get USC a NCAA tournament slot for the first time since 1997?

If the Trojans believe it, they weren’t saying so on Friday.

“Thursday’s win [over Washington] brought us one step closer to our goal,” said David Bluthenthal. “But I’m not going to be complacent. Winning on Thursday took some pressure off for [today].

“But it’s still very important for us to get fourth place. If you’re fifth, you’re still on the bubble. We know they will take at least four teams. So it’s safe to say if you’re in fourth you’re in a pretty good spot.”

To finish fourth, the Trojans must defeat Washington State and hope Arizona has enough left in its tank from upsetting Stanford to beat California. Should that happen, Cal and USC would have identical conference records (11-7), but the Trojans would have the edge, having beaten Cal twice in conference play.

Many prognosticators are predicting the Trojans to be seeded anywhere from seventh to 10th for the tournament. Brian Scalabrine isn’t paying attention.

“Nothing is a lock until Sunday,” Scalabrine said. “I felt like winning [Thursday] night would get us in, but you never know what other teams might get in from winning conference tournaments and screw everything up. Getting 20 wins [for the first time since 1992] is what we wanted to do.”

The Trojans are most concerned that Washington State has improved since USC’s overpowering 82-59 victory at the Sports Arena on Jan. 4. After winning one of nine games in the first round of conference play, the Cougars are 4-4 in the second half.

“We have to make sure we’re focused and ready to play,” Scalabrine said. “. . . They’re a much more aggressive team.”

TODAY

at Washington State, 1

* Site--Friel Court, Pullman, Wash.

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Records--USC 20-9, 10-7 in Pac-10 play; Washington State 12-15, 5-12.

* Update--The Trojans bring a four-game winning streak into today’s game against the Cougars, but are looking for their first win at Pullman since 1997. Last season’s road victory came at Spokane.