A HOT TOPIC

Marcus Allen has come to see what all the fuss is about. Tom Selleck has flashed his trademark smile on the video scoreboard. Jerry Buss has repeatedly shown up -- wearing a cardinal and gold letterman’s jacket.

USC basketball is starting to generate a buzz, and not only in celebrity circles. The Galen Center is rocking as close-to-capacity crowds have come to watch the new hot team in town.

That’s what happens when you play five nationally ranked teams in a seven-game stretch and beat four, with USC’s 80-73 victory over No. 11 Arizona on Thursday only the latest in a series of pulsating finishes at the corner of Jefferson and Figueroa.

“People have been calling me and I’ve been hearing people talk around campus, especially [Thursday] after the game,” junior guard Gabe Pruitt said before practice Friday. “People are starting to recognize how good we are.”

A victory today at the Galen Center over Arizona State, the only winless team in the Pacific 10 Conference, would put the Trojans in prime position for their first national ranking since March 2002.

It might also help with name recognition for a team that people outside Los Angeles once confused with another USC.

“A couple of years ago when we used to travel, people used to think we were the University of South Carolina,” senior guard Lodrick Stewart said. “Everyone knows who we are now and we’ve earned a lot of respect.”

USC’s victories over Wichita State, Washington, Oregon and Arizona represent the Trojans’ most triumphs over ranked teams since beating six during the 2001-02 season -- one that ended in the NCAA tournament.

The Trojans, 14-5 overall, 4-2 in Pac-10 play, are tied with Washington State and California for third place -- and are about six seconds away from being the only undefeated team during conference play.

That’s the combined amount of time remaining when Washington State’s Kyle Weaver made a short runner and UCLA’s Arron Afflalo made a mid-range jumper to hang a pair of crushing defeats on USC.

The Trojans have thrived in what is widely regarded as the nation’s toughest conference because of their own talent and a coach who preaches tenacious man-to-man defense and an efficient motion offense.

“He’s just emphasizing defense and he doesn’t change it up,” Stewart said of Coach Tim Floyd. “He goes with the same routine, doesn’t change his game plan after games we lost. You’ve got to listen and do what he says because it works.”

About the only discernible weakness in recent weeks has been clutch free-throw shooting -- or lack thereof. USC missed the front end of three one-and-one opportunities in the final 5 minutes 26 seconds against UCLA and made only five of 10 free throws in the final 46 seconds against Arizona.

Yet the Trojans have plenty of firepower on offense. Junior swingman Nick Young had his renowned fadeaway jumper in peak form when he scorched the Wildcats for a season-high 30 points. Freshman forward Taj Gibson averages nearly a double-double and provides the kind of interior presence USC sorely lacked last season, and Stewart has established himself as one of the conference’s most dangerous catch-and-shoot perimeter threats.

Floyd said the return of six players who were part of several big victories a year ago helped establish what he called a belief system and the ability to self-correct deficiencies such as turnovers. The Trojans also benefit from a schedule that will allow them to play five of their first seven conference games at home.

“Had we opened at Washington, we could have very easily opened up 0-2 and come back home and played UCLA and been 0-3 and not had the confidence to sustain the defensive effort because we’re still a young team, a work in progress,” Floyd said. “All new teams, which we are, have to learn how to win. I think the luck of the schedule helped.”

The return of Pruitt from academic ineligibility has provided enviable depth. Among the players the Trojans can bring off the bench are senior center Abdoulaye N’diaye, a regular starter last season, and freshman Daniel Hackett, who was the starting point guard until Pruitt’s return.

Floyd is able to pick and choose his reserves to fit particular needs such as ball-handling or defensive rebounding. The coach has at times turned to sophomore forward Keith Wilkinson, who made a critical three-point basket against the Wildcats, and freshman forward Kyle Austin, whose lockdown defensive effort propelled USC to a 20-point comeback victory over George Washington.

Too much depth can have its drawbacks, of course. Three players have already transferred in part because of concerns over playing time, a trend that could continue into next year with the arrival of a heralded recruiting class that includes O.J. Mayo and Davon Jefferson.

However, at least one part-time player looks as if he’ll be staying for sure. Wilkinson, who was lightly recruited out of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley High, was brought in by Floyd with the understanding that his scholarship might be for only one year. After last season, Wilkinson was given one more year. But recently the coach told him he was welcome to stay until he graduates.

“I’ve always wanted to be a Trojan for four years,” Wilkinson said Thursday night amid a jubilant locker room. “The first thing [Floyd] said was, ‘I don’t want you to stop working hard.’ ”

That seems unlikely for a player, and a program, on the rise.

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TODAY

vs. Arizona State, 5,

FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Galen Center.

Radio -- 710.

Records -- USC 14-5, 4-2; Arizona State 6-12, 0-7.

Update -- The Sun Devils have lost eight consecutive games but have not exactly been pushovers. They extended California to overtime and held an 11-point lead over UCLA before falling in the second half. USC is all too aware of what can happen if it doesn’t come to play against Arizona State. The last two times the Trojans have beaten Arizona at home, they’ve followed with losses to the Sun Devils.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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The gauntlet

USC’s recent schedule, featuring five ranked opponents in seven games (reflects AP ranking at time of the game):

* Dec. 23 -- defeated No. 8 Wichita State, 60-56, at Las Vegas

* Dec. 28 -- defeated No. 14 Washington, 86-79, in overtime at the Galen Center

* Dec. 30 -- lost to Washington State, 58-55, at the Galen Center

* Jan. 4 -- defeated No. 16 Oregon, 84-82, at Eugene, Ore.

* Jan. 6 -- defeated Oregon State, 91-46, at Corvallis, Ore.

* Jan. 13 -- lost to No. 4 UCLA, 65-64, at the Galen Center

* Jan. 18 -- defeated No. 11 Arizona, 80-73, at the Galen Center

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Source: usctrojans.cstv.com