Feeling as if They Belong

USC’s seven-game winning streak in men’s basketball may not stand up to the football team’s 34-game winning streak, but junior guard Lodrick Stewart has discovered that, even on a smaller scale, winning has its privileges.

“It’s fun to win,” he said Monday. “Now we get to walk around campus with our heads up. We can walk around with the football players and be happy. Last year I used to feel embarrassed walking around after I lost. This year’s been good so far.”

The Trojans struggled Sunday against Alcorn State before they pulled together in the second half of a 76-53 victory.

USC held the Braves (0-7) to 32.8% shooting, including 29.4% in the second half, though Trojan Coach Tim Floyd said he wasn’t sure how much his team’s defense had to do with it.

“I thought Alcorn had a ton of open looks, so the stats can be really deceiving,” Floyd said. “They had wide-open looks throughout the game that didn’t go down. I didn’t think we were as committed defensively as we will need to be on Wednesday night” against North Carolina.

The No. 17 Tar Heels (6-1), who will play USC (7-2) in Los Angeles for the first time, have won three consecutive games since a 68-64 loss to then-No. 12 Illinois. One of those victories was over then-No. 10 Kentucky, 83-79, Dec. 3 in Lexington, Ky.

“This is a big game for us. This could really put us on the map,” said USC sophomore swingman Nick Young, who’s averaging 16.6 points, fourth in the Pacific 10 Conference. “... We want to play some tough teams to see how we’re progressing.”

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Floyd is 3-9 against North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, all but one of the games coming when Floyd coached at Iowa State and Williams at Big 12 conference rival Kansas. Floyd’s New Orleans team lost to Kansas, 55-49, in an NCAA tournament first-round game in 1991.

Floyd is 0-1 against North Carolina, a 73-51 Iowa State loss in an NCAA tournament second-round game in 1995.

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Floyd held Dwayne Shackleford out of practice Monday because of continued swelling in his left knee and said he would re-evaluate the senior guard before today’s practice.