Nice Weather ... for Ducks

It was fun while it lasted.

But just like last year, when USC seemed to turn a corner during its run to the Pacific 10 Conference tournament title game, the Trojans merely ran into a wall.

Oregon was the foil this time, building a big second-half lead on a rainy Saturday afternoon and holding on down the stretch to end the Trojans’ season, 74-66, in front of 17,485 at Staples Center.

Not only did USC’s NCAA aspirations -- once unlikely but suddenly close enough to touch -- go up in a puff of smoke, so too did the Trojans’ sense of accomplishment in their run through the first two rounds.

Wounded egos, fractured pride, and a broken leg were all that remained in USC’s locker room after the title-game loss to the fifth-seeded Ducks.

Especially after the seventh-seeded Trojans let a seven-point lead late in the first half slip away and a late run from a 17-point deficit to get within four points fell short.

But the biggest mystery surrounded the treatment of high-scoring and temperamental Desmon Farmer by Trojan Coach Henry Bibby in the second half.

After a spectacular first half, in which he scored 19 points, Farmer fell victim to Bibby’s short leash, Farmer being thrust in and out of the lineup and playing only eight minutes after the break.

“I wasn’t happy with Desmon’s performance,” said Bibby, referring to Farmer’s demanding the ball on occasion in the opening half and launching an ill-advised long three-point attempt.

“He was doing things not in the framework of the team. This game is not about Desmon Farmer. It’s about our basketball team.”

Farmer, who was scoreless in the second half but was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 22 points, was puzzled. He thought the constant shuffling had an adverse effect on him.

“The first half I felt I was hot, but I guess he was thinking that I was selfish and in the second half that I was still sulking about the issue,” said Farmer, who had to be consoled outside the USC locker room, tears streaming down his face. “I guess it’s just a lesson learned. I personally don’t feel like I was selfish. I feel like I just wanted to win.”

It looked as though the Trojans (13-17) might do just that late in the first half and clinch a bid to the NCAA tournament for a school-record third consecutive year.

A 15-0 USC run helped the Trojans grab a 31-24 lead with 4:49 remaining in the first half and one could almost sense the winded Ducks (23-9) on the verge of checking out.

After all, they had little to play for as far as NCAA tournament seedings go (their ticket to the tournament undoubtedly was punched with their first-round win over Arizona State on Thursday).

Instead, it was the Trojan offense that checked out.

Rory O’Neil, who had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team, scored the Trojans’ lone field goal in the last five-plus minutes of the first half.

Oregon, which was led by Pac-10 player of the year and tournament most valuable player Luke Ridnour (18 points and nine assists), closed the half with a 13-4 run to take a two-point lead. And, after O’Neil scored the first basket of the second half, the Ducks took off on a 24-7 run to open a 61-44 lead with 11:47 to play.

But USC used its full-court press to force the tempo. It was during the Trojan rush that junior guard Roy Smiley suffered a broken lower left leg in a scramble for the ball.

The Trojans scored eight consecutive points to get the deficit to single digits before Errick Craven was hit with a technical foul by referee Dave Libbey for arguing a foul.

“I looked at him and turned away and said ... to myself,” Craven said. “I said it to myself. [Oregon center Ian] Crosswhite came up to his face and said stuff to him and nothing. I think he was just out for me.”

USC was down by 15 points with 8:37 to play when point guard Derrick Craven began attacking the basket, scoring 11 consecutive points for the Trojans and after Errick Craven put back a Robert Hutchinson missed free throw at the 2:26 mark, the Trojans were within four, 70-66. But they would score no more.

“I thought,” Bibby said, “we became a team [of individuals] that wanted to do it on their own.”

They’ll have an entire summer to mull it over, or sulk about it, depending upon the point of view.