USC Wins on O’Neil’s Three

Rick Majerus accepted then quickly rejected the USC coaching position, and now Tim Floyd is on deck.

Jim Saia?

The interim coach isn’t high on his employer’s list despite an impressive start that continued Wednesday night in an 81-78 victory over Alabama Birmingham in a semifinal of the Rainbow Classic at Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center.

Rory O’Neil’s three-point basket with 5.3 seconds left broke a 78-78 tie, and the 6-foot-11 center also raced back to contest Demario Eddins’ desperation three-pointer, which fell short as time expired.

O’Neil’s game-winner, which occurred on a play Saia diagramed for the first time this season in a timeout with 13.9 seconds left, enabled the Trojans to hold off the Blazers, who rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit.

USC also received a strong performance from freshman point guard Gabe Pruitt, who overcame the Blazers’ full-court pressure with help from Derrick Craven and made the pass that led to O’Neil’s shot.

The Trojans (6-3) won their fourth in a row, advancing to the tournament’s championship game tonight against Hawaii or Oral Roberts. They’re overcoming the distraction of the coaching situation, and Saia is leading the way.

“I’ve never seen a jockey carry a horse over the finish line, so this isn’t about me,” said Saia, who at 4-1 has equaled USC’s best start for a rookie coach. “They made the plays. We just drew it up.”

Saia called two timeouts in the final 29.9 seconds to settle the Trojans as much as to construct the play he hoped would provide the difference after UAB (6-3) stormed back from a 68-55 deficit with 9:15 left.

Displeased with the team’s offense down the stretch, Saia decided to try something new.

“I always wanted to do it, I just hadn’t put it in,” he said. “So I just drew it up, they executed and we got the three.”

Forward Gregg Guenther inbounded the ball to Pruitt, who scored a team-high 15 points, including a clutch three-pointer from the top of the arc as the shot clock ran out, enabling the Trojans to reclaim the lead, 78-77, with 43.8 seconds left.

UAB’s Eddins followed Pruitt as he dribbled to the right. Recognizing O’Neil was open, Pruitt fired a pass to O’Neil, who made the basket on the left side of the arc as Eddins got his hand up too late.

“We knew the guy couldn’t stick O, so our play was for me to dribble down and clear my guy so the guys could set a pick for O,” Pruitt said. “We knew they switch a lot, so O got the wide-open jump shot.

“We knew it was going to work because O is a good shooter. Everybody played their role on that possession and it really worked out for us.”

O’Neil, who scored 13 points, was similarly confident in Saia’s plan.

“I saw the center playing off me a little bit, giving help on Gabe, who probably drew three defenders,” said O’Neil, whose 47.8% on three-pointers leads the team.

“He did a really good job driving to the hoop and then making them give help on him. He’s the one that made the whole play develop. He had the presence of mind to kick it back out to me, and that was a great play on his part.”

USC was playing for the second consecutive day after having defeated Indiana State, 68-64, in its opening-round game, in which Pruitt had 16 points and seven rebounds. After their best performance to this point, USC hopes to win its second Rainbow Classic championship since 1975 in its third consecutive game tonight.

“That was a Sweet 16 team that we just beat,” Saia said of the Blazers, who advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament last season.

“The players hung in there and deserve all the credit. This is a big-time win for this program.”