USC basketball season ends with fifth straight loss
Every season has an expiration date. Most teams determine their own. USC didnât. Its administration settled on Saturday as the Trojansâ last game. So it goes.
But with nothing to play for, the Trojans played as though they didnât want it all to end -- and it wasnât until the buzzer sounded after the second overtime that it did. So it goes.
The final score of USCâs 2009-10 season: Arizona 86, Trojans 84. The Wildcatsâ Nic Wise made a layup with 1.2 seconds left, giving USC its fifth straight loss.
The Trojansâ season now goes to the media guides, where their final record -- 16-14 overall, 8-10 in Pacific 10 Conference play -- will get an asterisk noting the postseason ban imposed by USCâs higher-ups for recruiting allegations surrounding O.J. Mayo.
It will not note injuries or ineligible players, nor will it note players from last season who left early or recruits who never came. âWe did . . . a whole lot better than people thought we would,â said guard Dwight Lewis, who scored a game-high 21 points.
Overcoming obstacles was this teamâs modus operandi, and, fittingly, Saturday featured one more.
With USC leading, 69-66, Nikola Vucevic was called for fouling Arizonaâs Kyle Fogg on a desperation three-point shot with 0.2 seconds left in the second half. Fogg made all three free throws, sending the game to overtime.
USC Coach Kevin OâNeill was livid when the call was made. âEveryone saw what went on out there,â he said. âEverybody knows. They can go home and celebrate all they want. Everybody saw what went on.â
Said Vucevic: âI didnât touch anything. I just went up with my hand in the air so he couldnât see the basket.â
The Trojans fought back in the first overtime to send it to a second, and it took Wiseâs layup to finish them off. âHonestly, if weâre going to lose, Iâd rather lose going out like that,â guard Mike Gerrity said.
OâNeill told his players after the game that they would be a team heâd always remember and that when theyâre sitting around 10 years from now, they should remember how they âreally played their hearts out every single day with the worst of all odds.â
He added: âIf all my future teams play hard like this team, weâll win a lot of games in this league.â
The future for next season, which is tentatively scheduled to start Nov. 13 when USC plays host to UC Irvine, is bright in spots, but dark in others.
The Trojans return five of their top eight scorers, and their talented recruiting class boasts four players who will boost an offense that averaged just 59.6 points this season.
Fordham transfer Jio Fontan, a sophomore point guard, and freshmen guards Maurice and Bryce Jones are probable starters -- along with returning forwards Vucevic and Alex Stepheson -- and 6-foot-6 wing player Garrett Jackson, called by some the steal of the class, also figures to play considerable minutes. âI have a lot of faith in the young guys coming in,â OâNeill said.
Fontan, a former Atlantic 10 rookie of the year, is especially crucial with next seasonâs young perimeter. He wonât be eligible until late December, but he is a major upgrade offensively and defensively at the point guard position. âI feel like I can take over games,â Fontan said.
Vucevic said heâll go home Montenegro to play in the European under-21 championship this summer. This season, he was USCâs breakout player, and Stepheson could be next in line, if he can learn to be aggressive for more than five-minute stretches.
âWith the people theyâve got coming back next year, theyâll be a team to reckon with, especially with the people theyâve got coming in,â Lewis said.
Still, with a nonconference schedule that includes Texas, Kansas, Tennessee, Nebraska and possibly Marquette, the team could struggle early. Much also depends on the outcome of USCâs recent hearing with the NCAA Committee on Infractions, which is expected to be announced in the next month or two.
Itâs also likely that OâNeill will shake up his coaching staff. Three of his assistants are holdovers from when Tim Floyd coached the team last season.
For now, OâNeill will hit the road recruiting, starting today. As for his players, they can finally rest.
âWe fought hard,â Lewis said. âWe fought hard.â
So they go.
baxter.holmes@latimes.com
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