Trojans’ Approach Has Sense of Urgency

As restless and unfocused as USC has been in this, a maddeningly inconsistent season for the Trojans, the players understand the importance of tonight’s game at Arizona State.

Lose to the Sun Devils for the second time and the Trojans, because of tiebreakers, will fall into ninth place, one spot removed from qualifying for the Pacific 10 Conference tournament, with five games to go.

“It’s a ‘must’ win for us,” junior guard Errick Craven said. “We’ve got to come in focused and ready to play.

“We have to win. Usually we try to go in without putting too much pressure on ourselves, but this is like the UCLA game -- we’ve got to win.

“It’s crazy, how close we are [to falling out].”

And it’s because the Trojans, who were selected to finish fifth in the media poll, have lost six of their last seven games, beginning with a 100-85 blowout by Arizona State at the Sports Arena on Jan. 17.

Coach Henry Bibby insisted he was not overemphasizing one game.

“The only thing I’m trying to get across to them is to play hard, keep playing hard,” he said.

“We played 20 minutes of great basketball and then ... “

Bibby was referring to the fact that the Trojans took a 40-39 lead into the half at No. 16 Arizona on Thursday before imploding in an eventual 97-70 loss.

“We’re lacking leadership to keep it going; we’re lacking motivation to keep it going; we lack some focus,” Bibby said. “The leadership is the biggest thing we need to find in the next year or so.”

Meaning Bibby has given up on finding that leader this season?

“If we didn’t have it after 21 games, we’re probably not going to find it, it’s not in there,” he said.

USC also has been searching for a true point guard the last two seasons, with the conversion of freshman Rodrick Stewart and junior Derrick Craven to combo guards.

They were hounded mercilessly by Arizona and had trouble getting the ball past midcourt.

Craven, who was playing without his contact lenses, said USC’s poor play at the point was the exception, rather than the rule.

“We can’t be scared,” said a clearer-seeing Craven, whose contacts were shipped from USC on Friday. “It was just something that got out of control.”

Kind of like USC’s season.

“I never thought that,” Craven said. “I thought we’d be well ahead by now, in the top three, top four.”

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Trojan power forward Jeff McMillan is impressed by his Arizona State counterpart, sophomore All-American Ike Diogu, in many respects, especially by how often he gets to the free-throw line. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” McMillan said. “You think you’re playing good D, and the refs see it differently.”

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TONIGHT

at Arizona State, 5 PST

Fox Sports Net 2

Site -- Wells Fargo Arena.

Radio -- KMPC (1540), KSPA (1510), XEMM (800).

Records -- USC 9-12 overall, 4-8 in Pacific 10; Arizona State 9-12, 3-9.

Update -- The Trojans were still steaming Friday about the lack of a technical foul called on Arizona after Andre Iguodala had dunked during pregame drills, a rule violation that once cost former Trojan Jeff Trepagnier.