Not Much Time Left

Mired in its first four-game losing streak since 2000, when it dropped five in a row, USC is not only in danger of missing out on an invitation to the NIT, it could finish with a losing record for the first time since 1998, when the Trojans were 9-19.

This weekend’s sweep by the Bay Area schools dropped USC to 10-13 overall and 5-9 in the Pacific 10 Conference for a sixth-place tie with Oregon State.

Even if the Trojans close the regular season by going 3-1 in road games against Oregon and Oregon State and home games against Washington and Washington State, they’d have to win at least one game in the Pac-10 tournament to finish .500 overall. Arizona State received an NIT bid last season at 14-14, 7-11 in conference.

But, an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament is still available to the team that wins the conference tournament, as far-fetched as that may seem for a squad that has lost nine of its last 13 games.

“We’ve got four games left,” said junior guard Desmon Farmer. “We’ve just got to go out and play.”

While the Trojans took Sunday off, Coach Henry Bibby was not sure if senior point guard Robert Hutchinson, who sat out Saturday’s game because of what Bibby said were personal reasons, would return to the team today. “Maybe,” Bibby said. “We hope. Maybe not.”

Hutchinson seemed frustrated after playing only seven minutes against Stanford Thursday but practiced Friday.

Derrick Craven found out Saturday morning that his backup would not be at the Cal game that night.

“It was a matter of me staying out of foul trouble, and they kind of let me play down there,” said Craven, who played 40 minutes and had 15 points, two rebounds, one assist and one turnover. With seven seconds remaining, however, he did miss the first of two free throws that could have tied the score.

Against Stanford, USC missed four consecutive free throws in the final six-plus minutes of its 73-67 loss to the Cardinal and made only one of four in the last 3:26 of an 84-82 loss to the Golden Bears.

“Free throws have been kind of an Achilles’ heel, I guess,” Bibby said.

USC entered the Cal game shooting 69.1% from the free-throw line.