USC warmup act a winner

There were tears and hugs, handshakes and goodbyes.

Yet in many ways, this Senior Night felt like a beginning.

USC players showed up at a shoot-around Saturday afternoon to find students waiting outside the Galen Center more than two hours before tipoff, something they said had never happened before.

Then, buoyed by a season-high crowd of 10,027, the Trojans knocked off California, 84-66, in a cohesive display they hope was only a prelude to bigger things in the final week of Pacific 10 play and, beyond that, in the conference and NCAA tournaments.

Picked by the media to finish sixth in the league, USC (21-8 overall, 11-5 Pac-10) could finish as high as second and no lower than tied for third. An NCAA bid is considered a virtual certainty.

USC plays at Washington on Thursday and ends the regular season Saturday at second-place Washington State, which it trails by a game in the standings.

“I feel very confident about our position,” junior swingman Nick Young said. “We’re not fighting for sixth or seventh place no more.”

Senior guard Lodrick Stewart, whose four three-point basket gave him 220 for his career and moved him into first place on the school’s all-time list, said USC was “playing for seeding now” in the NCAA tournament.

The Trojans’ postseason resume is shaping up nicely after they solidified their hold on third place in the Pac-10 and finished their first season in their new arena with a 15-3 home record.

The fans showered Stewart, Abdoulaye N’diaye and Chris Penrose with applause during a pregame ceremony in which the seniors received framed jerseys, but saved their loudest cheers for the final seconds, when Penrose came off the bench to make a three-pointer.

“It couldn’t have been a better ending,” USC Coach Tim Floyd said of the ensuing scene in which the walk-on was mobbed by teammates and fans.

It was a bit of poetic justice for the Trojans, who had to watch on Senior Day last year at Cal’s Haas Pavilion as Bears senior walk-on Steve Panawek dunked in the final seconds.

USC students hoped Saturday didn’t mark the last time they would see Young, who has said he would declare for the NBA draft after this season if he is assured of being a first-round selection. The students did their best to woo him back, repeatedly chanting “one more year” while he conducted an on-court interview after the game.

Junior guard Gabe Pruitt said he also might attend the NBA pre-draft camp June 4-8 in Orlando, Fla., but that he anticipated returning next season.

USC’s seniors provided an early spark Saturday, with N’diaye and Stewart scoring 10 of the Trojans’ first 12 points. Cal (14-14, 6-10) hung around for a while, closing to within 55-49 with 11:45 remaining in the second half on a basket inside by freshman center Ryan Anderson, who had 14 points.

But USC played with poise, committing only nine turnovers, and its inside-out game proved to be too much. Freshman forward Taj Gibson finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, and freshman guard Dwight Lewis scored 14 points.

The Trojans hope they’re just getting started. Said Stewart: “Hopefully we can get 23 wins, focus on the Pac-10 tournament and get to play UCLA again. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com