DATE WITH THE DEVILS

USC’s game against Duke tonight in the East Regional final epitomizes the beauty and the madness of basketball in March.

The sixth-seeded Trojans (24-9) have already had a great NCAA tournament, beating Oklahoma State, Boston College and Kentucky to reach the Elite Eight. But there’s no time to absorb and enjoy the accomplishment.

Not with a Final Four ticket to Minneapolis going to the winner of tonight’s game, which tips off at 4 p.m. PST in the First Union Center. The only way to earn it is to beat Duke (32-4), seeded No. 1 in the East Regional.

After Friday’s practice, USC Coach Henry Bibby didn’t present the same we’ll-kick-their-butts attitude against Duke that he showed against Kentucky.

“I’m happy with the way we’re playing and I have confidence we will go out and be competitive,” Bibby said. “I’ve always said that’s something I look for in my basketball team. [Today] we’ll be competitive and who knows the outcome?”

How do you rally around that flag?

But while some people may view this game as a mismatch the likes of the Dream Team vs. Angola, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski would not let the Trojans--as of Friday, 14 1/2-point underdogs--be painted as an overachieving lightweight that is lucky to be here and has no chance.

“They’re a veteran team. They’re men,” Krzyzewski said of USC. “It’s a difficult matchup for us because I think their experience, not just individually but collectively, makes them very good.

“They’ve been together two full seasons, and Bibby has done a great job of going to their strengths. Sam Clancy is terrific. Brandon [Granville] does a great job of running their team. And Jeff Trepagnier is a world-class athlete who plays basketball.”

Not that Duke is scrapping along.

Its top two players are Shane Battier and Jason Williams. Battier, a senior forward who averages 19.7 points and seven rebounds, is the favorite to win the Wooden Award as the nation’s best player. Williams, a sophomore guard who averages 21.5 points and 6.2 assists, probably is Duke’s best player--especially when he has games like Thursday’s, scoring 19 consecutive points against UCLA in the second half.

“He’s such a great player,” Granville said. “He gets a lot of freedom in their offense.”

Duke has not won the national championship since winning successive titles in 1991 and 1992. But the Blue Devils, who have been to 12 Final Fours, are not pressured by their history or their recent inability to win another title.

“You don’t fear your expectations. You confront them,” Battier said. “We’re a much better team when we play to win instead of not to lose. Especially at this time in March. If you start to become conservative and worry about losing, you’re not going to be at your best.”

The Trojans have had recent contact with Duke, unlike their last three tournament opponents. In the 1999 Wooden Classic, Duke pulled away from USC in the final minutes to win, 81-68.

What did it mean?

“We can look at that game and know [Duke is] a very, very good basketball team,” Bibby said. “They are well coached, very structured in what they do.”

“At least our guys have some familiarity with how tall they are and that they were good,” Krzyzewski said. “We won, but it was a tough game. Chris Carrawell [who led all scorers with 24] had bad dreams about Trepagnier [blocking shots] for three months after that.”

For Duke to advance, Krzyzewski said the Blue Devils must keep USC from getting off to the fast starts it had against Oklahoma State and Kentucky, and solve the Trojans’ matchup zone defense.

“It’s not at all like Temple’s matchup zone. It’s unique,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s like their offense in that it’s personalized just for them. They do some trapping out of it, but it’s not a conventional matchup zone. One of the reasons is, they have big players. And Trepagnier makes it look like they have six players because he covers so much ground.”

At the same time USC is facing a team that can stretch that zone in ways the other teams could not. In their other three tournament games, the Trojans had only to focus their defense on one or two excellent three-point shooters. Duke has five in Williams, Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Nate James and Chris Duhon.

They have driven the Blue Devils to average 91.6 points a game, and have led the nation in scoring the last two seasons. As a team, Duke shoots 27 three-pointers a game, and makes 40% of them. Their eight-for-31 three-point effort against UCLA was an aberration.

The Trojans, who average 77.3 points, have another problem. Their deliberate, half-court offensive style fits the defenses Duke likes to play.

“Duke plays good defense, but not as good as people think if you can go right at them,” said one departing tournament coach. “But if they can set up against a team that doesn’t run that much, they’re much tougher.”

USC doesn’t want to run that much so the Trojans don’t exhaust the five starters and one or two bench players Bibby will insert. If the Blue Devils move out to a big lead, USC may have no choice.

USC realizes it must pull inspiration from many sources. So the Trojans continued to play the “no respect” card, even though that’s not possible after their successful tournament run.

“[Lack of respect] provides motivation for us,” Granville said. “We just keep striving to advance.

“I’m amazed at the focus of this team the last month. We bring it every game; there’s not that inconsistency there was during the season. It just seems like we’re playing our best basketball now, and it’s the perfect time for it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

USC in the Tournament

USC is 9-12 in the NCAA tournament. The Trojans’ tournament history by coach:

SAM BARRY

* 1940: beat Colorado, 38-32; lost to Kansas, 43-42. (Final Four).

FORREST TWOGOOD

* 1954: beat Idaho State, 73-59; beat Santa Clara, 66-65, 2OT; lost to Bradley, 74-72; lost to Penn State, 70-61. (Final Four).

* 1960: lost to Utah, 80-73.

* 1961: beat Oregon, 81-79; lost to Arizona State, 86-71; lost to Loyola Marymount, 69-67.

BOB BOYD

* 1979: beat Utah St., 86-67; lost to DePaul, 89-78.

STAN MORRISON

* 1982: lost to Wyoming, 61-58.

* 1985: lost to Illinois State, 58-55.

GEORGE RAVELING

* 1991: lost to Florida State, 75-72.

* 1992: beat Northeast Louisiana, 84-54; lost to Georgia Tech, 79-78.

HENRY BIBBY

* 1997: lost to Illinois, 90-77.

* 2001: beat Oklahoma State, 69-54; beat Boston College, 74-71; beat Kentucky, 80-76.

EAST REGIONAL FINAL

USC (24-9)

vs. DUKE (32-4)

Today, 4 p.m.

Channel 2, XTRA (690)

THE SCORE IN ’54

The last time USC reached a Final Four the team had limited leaping ability and the coach wouldn’t let players dunk. D7

SCOUTING REPORT

A look at the teams’ styles of play, keys to the game, starting lineups and comparative and individual statistics. D7

GIVE-(IT-UP)-AND-GO

To help the Trojans bond, Coach Henry Bibby is asking each player to sacrifice something he likes. D8