Trojans Still At-Large

USC’s defense was swarming all over the Staples Center court Saturday afternoon, forcing Arizona’s ballhandlers into a rash of turnovers while getting steals, blocking shots and taking charges.

It was late in the first half and the Trojans seemed on the verge of routing the Wildcats in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament title game, having embarked on a 17-2 run in which five Trojans scored to take a 13-point lead with 5:35 remaining until halftime.

Then USC hit a wall.

“We hit three walls,” Trojan Coach Henry Bibby said.

And he wasn’t referring to tournament most valuable player Luke Walton, his father Bill, who sat in the front of the Arizona rooting section sporting a bright red Arizona T-shirt, or to Wildcat Coach Lute Olson.

Bibby meant the three referees.

Some would say that USC, playing its third game of full-court pressure defense in as many days, merely ran out of gas. But others in the USC camp alluded to the officiating and several calls aimed at the Trojans to close out the first half.

Whatever the case, Arizona, behind freshman guard Salim Stoudamire’s career-high 29 points, was able to outrun the Trojans the rest of the way and pulled away for an 81-71 win in front of 18,997 that clinched the Pac-10’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.

It was the Wildcats’ fourth straight title in the Pac-10 tournament, which was revived this year after a 12-year absence.

Not bad for a coach who has spoken out often against a Pac-10 tournament. Olson says the added three days do nothing but create missed school time while tiring out the league’s NCAA qualifiers.

The 22nd-ranked Trojans (22-9), who thrashed No. 16 Stanford, 103-78, on Thursday before beating regular-season champ and ninth-ranked Oregon, 89-78, Friday night, await their at-large bid and placement in the NCAA tournament bracket, which will be released this afternoon.

USC, whose resume includes regular-season quality wins over Stanford, UCLA and Arizona that it lacked last year, expects a better seeding than in 2001, when the Trojans were seeded No. 6 in the East Regional and shipped to Uniondale, N.Y.

There had been speculation that a victory Saturday might have earned the Trojans a seeding as high as No. 3 and kept them closer to home. Instead, it is the Wildcats (22-9) who are angling for a No. 2 seeding in the West Regional.

“I know where the game was lost,” said Bibby, who was assessed a technical foul with 1:50 to play. “[But] I plead the Fifth.”

After being called for one foul in the first 15:24 of the game, the Trojans were hit with eight in the last 4:35 of the first half. USC led, 33-22, before the whistles began blowing.

But that’s also when the Trojans stopped making shots.

USC made only two field goals in the final five minutes of the first half and could muster only two more in the first 8:46 of the second half.

Arizona, meanwhile, was breaking a tired USC press, getting easy baskets and going on an 18-4 run.

Before the Trojans got their third field goal of the second half, the Wildcats had turned a 13-point first-half deficit into a seven-point second-half advantage, 52-45, with more than 12 minutes remaining.

USC, buoyed by guard Desmon Farmer off the bench, answered with a 7-2 run in which Farmer knock down a three-point basket from the right wing and tipped in a USC miss to get the Trojans within two, 54-52, with 8:49 to play.

“The game’s going to be full of runs,” senior point guard Brandon Granville said. “It’s just a matter of who’s going to make the plays.”

The weary Trojans would not make many plays down the stretch as Arizona pulled away.

“We went out there in the second half not focused for whatever reason,” said Farmer, who had 15 points in 26 minutes. “And we weren’t executing on the defensive end. We were letting their guards get open shots and they were knocking them down.”

Stoudamire, the league’s freshman of the year, made nine of 10 shots from the field, five of six from three-point territory, to lead the Wildcats. Walton had 23 points, 13 after halftime, and eight assists, all in the second half.

Several Trojans complained about an officiating crew that called six more fouls on USC (22) than on Arizona (16), and the Wildcats attempted 13 more free throws, making 19 of 22 to USC’s six of nine.

But Farmer also acknowledged, “Our aggressiveness just broke down.”

Trojan senior forward Sam Clancy, the Pac-10 player of the year, played all 40 minutes and went to the free-throw line twice, missing both attempts.

Clancy had a difficult game all the way around, scoring 12 points--more than seven below his average--on six-for-16 shooting and taking five rebounds, barely half his average.

Senior forward David Bluthenthal led the Trojans with 16 points.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

March Madcaps

The Pac-10 all-tournament team:

LUKE WALTON, Arizona

* Another Wildcat whose achievements are accompanied by familial references, the junior forward carved his own legacy by earning most outstanding player honor.

SALIM STOUDAMIRE, Arizona

* The freshman with six relatives who have played college or professional sports earned a seat at the top of the family tree by scoring 29 points in the final.

JASON GARDNER, Arizona

* As the sharp-shooting junior guard cut down the nets at Staples Center, Wildcat fans who withstood the early departure of three starters after last season chanted, “One more year.”

SAM CLANCY, USC

* Although he proved his Pac-10 MVP mettle for two days, the normally indomitable Trojan left his legs in the locker room and tired during the disastrous second half against Arizona.

BRANDON GRANVILLE, USC

Despite an uneven effort in the final, the diminutive ignition switch should have the Trojans revved up and ready for an extended NCAA tournament drive.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Leader of the Pac

(infobox not included)