Loss Is Trojans’ Buzzword

Visions of cutting down nets and hanging up banners were dancing through the players’ heads. USC was out-running and out-gunning Oregon early in the second half of their game for first place Thursday night, building an 11-point lead with 11 minutes to play.

Turns out the Trojans’ visions of a Pacific 10 championship were delusions of grandeur.

Oregon senior guard Frederick Jones ended the Trojans’ title hopes when he drove the lane and made a one-handed runner with one second remaining, giving the Ducks a 67-65 victory before 11,505 at the Sports Arena. That clinched at least a tie for the Pac-10 regular-season championship for the Ducks as well as the top seeding in next week’s conference tournament at Staples Center.

USC point guard Brandon Granville’s three-quarter-court heave as time expired hit the backboard and the rim but bounded away harmlessly, dropping the Trojans into a four-way tie for third place. Had USC (19-8, 11-6) swept this weekend, the Trojans would have earned at least a share of their first Pac-10 title since 1985.

No. 13 Oregon (21-7, 13-4), meanwhile, clinched at least a share of its first league title in 57 years after sweeping USC and getting only its fourth road win of the year.

It was the fourth game No. 19 USC has lost on a last-second shot this year.

“How much character do I want?” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “I don’t want to build character, I want to win the game. Maybe there’s something down the road for us. We’ve just got to play harder and we can’t let them have runs like they did tonight.”

USC’s collapse against Oregon was made possible with Sam Clancy being forced to the bench with his fourth foul at the 10:13 mark and USC holding a 53-46 lead.

Clancy disputed a number of fouls called on him, referring to them as “bogus.”

“I’ve got to play aggressive,” he said. “I can’t play tentative. This is for the championship of the Pac-10.”

Clancy’s fourth foul came when he was called for bumping Luke Jackson from behind on a breakaway opportunity.

“He was playing basketball and it was a basketball play,” Bibby said. “I thought it was a questionable call.”

By the time Clancy returned, with 5:32 remaining, Oregon led by one, 56-55. And with a tentative Clancy trying to avoid fouling out, the Ducks drove at him and eventually went up by six, 65-59, with 2:17 to play.

How bad was USC’s drought? After Errick Craven made a three-point basket at the 11:04 mark, USC’s first three-pointer of the game to give the Trojans their 11-point lead, USC would be outscored, 23-6, over the next nine-plus minutes.

A Craven three-pointer from the left wing, though, with 1:27 to play got the Trojans within three, 65-62, before David Bluthenthal made a long three-pointer to tie the score with 30.9 seconds remaining.

After two timeouts, Jones got the ball, drove to his right and by Bluthenthal, who was expecting help, but Clancy was a little late in the lane.

“They made shots and we missed shots,” Bluthenthal said. “It was bad basketball by us.”

Clancy led USC with a game-high 25 points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes while Craven had 20 points and a career high-tying six steals.

The Trojans, though, got little from seniors Granville and Bluthenthal, who combined for nine points on three-of-17 shooting.

Granville, who was weakened by flu-like symptoms, left without speaking to the media after becoming USC’s all-time leader in games played with 119.

Luke Ridnour’s 17 points led Oregon while Jones finished with 15.

“You had, in my opinion, tonight, the two best teams in the conference,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “It was just a battle. Our last nine games [against USC] have been decided by fewer than eight points.

“We said, ‘We’ve got to win down at USC. Not at UCLA, but at USC.’”

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Last-Second Woes

USC has lost four games this season by opponents’ last-second shots. The teams and players that beat the Trojans:

Dec 6, vs. Pepperdine, 78-77

* Craig Lewis’ banked-in three-point basket with 2.5 seconds left.

Jan. 24, vs. California, 92-91 (OT)

* Shantay Legans’ three-point basket with three seconds left in overtime.

Feb. 6, at UCLA, 67-65

* Billy Knight’s three-point basket at the buzzer.

Feb. 28, vs. Oregon, 67-65

* Frederick Jones’ 10-foot runner with one second left.