A UCLA Backdoor Play, Assist to USC

At times during its 63-60 victory over Oregon State on Saturday, USC made things look as easy as a Jim Harrick Jr. basketball quiz.

At others, the Trojans simply were unable to think fast enough in a game played at the speed of thought.

For the Trojans, who earned the sixth seeding in this week’s Pacific 10 Conference tournament, getting a win was important for momentum’s sake entering Thursday’s first-round game against third-seeded Arizona.

For the Beavers, it was a loss that ended their season and disappointed a raucous Gill Coliseum crowd of 7,159.

And it all happened as USC let a 16-point second-half lead morph into a two-point deficit with less than four minutes to play.

“Anything can happen in the tournament,” said Trojan senior Desmon Farmer, who had a game-high 24 points. “I’m thinking that’s basically our gym.”

Farmer was referring to Staples Center, where the Trojans’ two consecutive runs to the tournament’s title game culminated with losses to Arizona in 2002 and Oregon last year.

“Let’s hope we’re not happy with finishing second,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “I don’t know if we’re going to be able to sneak up on people. We have a shot.”

Especially with the relative unimportance Arizona Coach Lute Olson places on the three-day affair and the Wildcats’ spot in the NCAA tournament virtually guaranteed, though their seeding is a different matter.

“Arizona’s feeling the heat,” Bibby said. “I’m positive Lute’s attitude’s going to change. They’re going to have to win some games.”

That’s exactly what the Trojans, who improved to 13-14 overall, 8-10 in Pac-10 play, had to do to ensure a better standing in their conference tournament.

Because while their spot was clinched with UCLA losing earlier in the day, the Trojans would have fallen to eighth and faced Stanford with a loss to the Beavers.

“The Pac-10 is kind of cluttered,” said Trojan guard Errick Craven, who returned from his one-game suspension to get 12 points and a career high-tying seven assists.

“We just needed a win.”

USC, which was playing without suspended point guard Derrick Craven, went about securing it the hard way.

Having held the Beavers (12-16, 6-12) to 19 points in the first half on 23.3% shooting, the Trojans were coasting early in the second half.

USC had a 39-23 lead at the 17:37 mark and still had a 15-point cushion, 43-28, with 14:28 to play and a nine- point advantage, 50-41, with 8:49 remaining.

But the Trojans’ over-reliance on their outside shooting -- they shot 20.8% (five of 24) from three-point territory -- and reluctance and inability to work the ball inside caught up with them as Oregon State tied the score at 50 with 5:44 to play.

“I thought for a while there,” Beaver Coach John Jay said, “that their shot selection was helping us.”

That Oregon State shot 21 free throws to the Trojans’ five (four in the last 23.1 seconds) helped the Beavers as well.

The lightbulb over the Trojans’ head came to life and they began pounding the ball to junior power forward Jeff McMillan, who had been named the league’s newcomer of the year a day earlier.

And though McMillan finished with only two points, his presence as a scoring threat freed up shooters for better looks, namely freshman Lodrick Stewart.

With 64 seconds remaining and the Trojans nursing a one-point lead, Stewart knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing. He followed that with a free throw with 6.8 seconds remaining to give USC the 63-60 lead. And then, with Oregon State trying to set up for a potential game-tying three-point basket, Stewart stripped Lamar Hurd of the ball and time expired.

“Lod was big for us,” Bibby said. “When his head is right and he’s focused, he’s a big plus for us.”

The Trojan win was also a positive for UCLA, which gained inclusion to the tournament with the Oregon State loss. Otherwise, the Bruins’ season would have ended.

“I was concerned about us playing well,” said Bibby, a UCLA alumnus who half-heartedly denied calling Bruin Coach Ben Howland with assurances that the Trojans would get both L.A. teams in the tournament. “That was my biggest concern.”