Waiting on Floyd, USC Hits the Wall

USC hopes for a bright future with Coach Tim Floyd, who will be introduced today at Heritage Hall.

The present isn’t as cheery for the Trojans.

They had another bad experience Thursday night in a 77-68 loss to Arizona at the McKale Center, and are off to their worst start in the Pacific 10 Conference since the 1988-89 season.

Reserve guard Chris Rogers scored a team-high 22 points to lead four Arizona players in double figures, helping the Wildcats extend their winning streak here to 20 games over the Trojans.

USC committed 23 turnovers and dropped to 7-9, 0-5 in conference.

The Trojans surprised themselves while playing well at times against No. 17-ranked Arizona (13-3, 3-1), which rebounded after Stanford ended its nine-game winning streak.

But the Trojans made too many mistakes after pulling within four points, 64-60, on Jeff McMillan’s dunk with 6:33 remaining in the game.

Freshman forward Nick Young continued to impress while scoring a team-high 18 points, the Trojans shot 51.8% and avoided a double-digit loss here for only the fourth time during the streak.

However, they’re still the only winless team in the Pac-10.

The focus today shifts to Floyd and what could be around the corner, but the Trojans are still stuck in a bad place.

“We just have to keep competing,” said Jim Saia, who will coach the team for the remainder of the season. “It’s not the end of the world. We’re playing hard.

“We didn’t compete against Washington and Washington State [last week]. The other games I coached, we’ve been right there. We were in every game. We’re just getting over the hump.

“I’m not into moral victories. But all I can do is ask my team to play hard, and they’re doing that. We’re not going to give up. Our team hasn’t quit. I’m not a quitter. I’m going to keep coaching this team until the end.”

Arizona’s biggest lead was only four points in the first half, which apparently displeased Coach Lute Olson, who thought the team was capable of more.

The Wildcats got the message at halftime.

They continued to apply full-court pressure and finished better on offense. The combination helped the Wildcats score the first six points out of the locker rooms, taking a 48-38 lead with 18:12 remaining on Hassan Adams’ baseline jumper.

But the Trojans weren’t finished.

They went on an 11-4 run to pull within 52-49 on Rory O’Neil’s layup at the 11:51 mark. Then Salim Stoudamire brought the fans to their feet.

Adams’ steal (USC’s 17th turnover) ignited a fast break that culminated in Stoudamire’s powerful left-handed slam over Lodrick Stewart. The crowd was still rocking when Stoudamire, who scored 21 points, had another star-power moment on the Wildcats’ next possession after Gabe Pruitt committed his fourth turnover.

As Pruitt ran into a screen and fell, Stoudamire drilled a three-point basket on the left side to give the Wildcats another double-digit lead, 59-49, with 9:04 to play.

“We’re just making mistakes at the wrong time,” Young said. “We know we can play, we just have to keep playing hard.”

Despite 13 first-half turnovers, the Trojans were much more competitive than the Wildcats and their fans would have preferred, trailing only 42-38 at halftime.

Pruitt struggled to get the ball past the half-court line against the Wildcats’ intense pressure, leading to several highlight-tape dunks for Adams, who finished with 15 points.

Pruitt was too tentative at times in a hostile situation, so Derrick Craven handled the ball more with better success, but still committed five of his team-high seven turnovers as the Trojans labored in their half-court offense.

Everyone except Young.

He took charge each time it appeared Arizona might pull away, scoring inside against defenders on nifty post moves and drives.

Young was the only Trojan to score in double figures in the first half (14 points), and his decision-making was almost as impressive as his production.