Trojans Steal One on Bruins

USC has the unmistakable look of an intruder any time it enters Pauley Pavilion.

Rarely, though, have the Trojans taken the role to these extremes. They might as well have walked into the building wearing ski masks and carrying gunny sacks, notching nine steals and making a slick getaway in a 76-69 victory over UCLA on Wednesday night.

Feeling ransacked were the Bruins, who trimmed a 19-point deficit to three in the last 12 minutes only to let the perpetrators leave with the goods.

For the Trojans, the evening was reminiscent of recent fall afternoons. There was a victory over UCLA, one-sided for the most part, their fourth win in the last five games against their crosstown rival, and their fans chanted “Just like football,” at the end.

Desmon Farmer made like Mike Williams, scoring effortlessly and having fun doing it. The senior guard had 28 points, 14 in each half, sparking the Trojans to their early lead and making enough shots down the stretch to keep the Bruins at bay despite horrendous Trojan free-throw shooting.

UCLA trailed by three when reserve guard Janou Rubin was called for traveling with 20.6 seconds left. Farmer made two free throws -- only USC’s ninth and 10th in 22 tries -- three seconds later to clinch it.

“This is for who owns the city, the man in the city,” said Farmer, who gestured to Bruin student hecklers after several baskets. “This was for bragging rights. I definitely think we took it from them.”

USC (9-9, 4-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference) ended a three-game losing streak while the Bruins (9-7, 5-4) dropped their fourth conference game in a row in a manner that made the near-sellout crowd of 12,773 wonder whether they’ll ever win another one.

“It was very disappointing because we didn’t play with passion or aggressiveness in the first half,” Bruin Coach Ben Howland said. “We didn’t play mad until we were embarrassed.”

Center Ryan Hollins, who scored a career-high 21 points, was the only UCLA starter to score in a first half that ended with USC leading by 20. A three-point basket by Rubin was the only perimeter shot UCLA made in the half.

It’s no coincidence that USC was the fourth team in a row to use a zone defense against UCLA, a trend that began with Arizona two weeks ago. Leave it to Lute Olson to make the first successful adjustment against Howland, the Bruins’ first-year coach.

The return of sharp-shooting guard Brian Morrison, out the last nine games because of a hamstring injury, was supposed to thwart the zone, but he was clearly rusty, missing his four field-goal attempts.

USC’s box-and-one zone was designed to stop UCLA’s leading scorer Dijon Thompson, and it couldn’t have been more effective. Thompson missed his four first-half shots and contributed only during a brief second-half spell, finishing with 11 points.

“We talked about being conscious about certain people on their team,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “Thompson was one of those players.”

Bibby said USC is better playing zone than man-to-man, which it usually employs.

“I was interested to see how we’d do with the zone,” he said.

Trojan players seemed more interested than their opponents early on, never trailing and turning a four-point lead into a near blowout with an 18-4 run. USC had its largest lead at the buzzer, 44-24, thanks to its fifth putback basket of the half, this one by Jeff McMillan in the last minute.

Hollins was UCLA’s only threat, working aggressively inside for 13 points. The 7-footer, starting for the fifth time this season, was the only Bruin to score in the last 6:50.

Thompson, T.J. Cummings, Trevor Ariza and Cedric Bozeman -- starters all -- did not score in the half.

Cummings and Thompson got hot early in the second half, and Bozeman, who had 10 assists, got them the ball by increasing the tempo and pushing the ball into the lane.

But USC got two offensive rebounds on a possession that whittled the clock from 2:33 to 1:03 and Bozeman fouled out with 28.9 seconds left, leaving the Bruins without an experienced ballhandler and allowing the Trojans to escape into the night like thieves.

It is an identity of which they are proud. USC leads the Pac-10 in steals, and Errick Craven had five more against UCLA. Even power forward Gregg Guenther had two steals.

“We were just hyped for the game,” USC guard Derrick Craven said. “We came into the game hungry. We are always looking to show them up.”