It's the Bruins vs. Trojans, Pauley Pavilion . . . Denzel Washington and Magic Johnson are supposed to be here . . . so are Kevin Love and O.J. Mayo.
Fire up!
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3:20
And now . . . on to Riverside (about 72 miles from here) and the 7 o'clock Long Beach State at UC Riverside game. I wonder how many other people in Pauley Pavilion today are joining me for that "doubleheader"?
2:35
Well, the look of the national ratings just took a big hit.
The Trojans dominated the final few minutes of play for a 72-63 victory -- roughly at the same time that Maryland stunned top-ranked North Carolina, 82-80, in Chapel Hill.
Freaky.
Back to the UCLA-USC game, for now . . .
Davon Jefferson had the game of his college career, scoring 25 points, including the final eight of the game after Taj Gibson blocked a floater by Darren Collison that would have put the Bruins in front with 1:11 to play.
Suddenly, Arizona State is playing at Stanford later this evening with the opportunity to grab sole possession of the Pac 10 lead . . . the same ASU team that was picked to finish ninth in the preseason.
2:20
It's tied at 57 with 5:19 to go . . . the Bruins were up six then fell apart on four consecutive possessions (blown layup, two bad 3's and a turnover) and USC has scored six in a row in transition. And Howland just took his final timeout.
O.J. Mayo scored only 16 points for the Trojans and I heard that Billy Packer was carving him up on the CBS broadcast. But I thought Mayo played very, very well.
USC Coach Tim Floyd did a tremendous job of letting his players create isolation situations, in which they could out-quick guys on drives. And Floyd's changing defenses were never really solved by the Bruins, who didn't play with the kind of patience and recognition on many possessions that would have led to higher quality attempts.
And now the Trojans, after an 0-3 start to conference play, are back in the Pac-10 hunt after picking up a big at-large bid bargaining chip.
So who is No. 1 now after the Tar Heels' first loss? Take your choice, Memphis or Kansas. I'll go with the Jayhawks, assuming they can beat Missouri in Columbia.
And, based on what happened in Westwood and in Chapel Hill, that isn't a given.
2:12
Timeout, UCLA 52-49 and Love will shoot two free throws when plays resumes. UCLA's defense is the difference right now . . . USC hasn't scored in almost four minutes.
2:00
The game is heating up . . . USC was up by eight and now the the Bruins are up by two.
Josh Shipp is bailing the Bruins out.
1:47
Ben Howland just called his third timeout and with good reason: USC is now in front, 44-37, with 15:32 to go. The Trojans are playing well, now, and the Bruins still aren't. It's as bad, offensively, as UCLA has played all season.
1:31
Didn't I tell you it was a sloppy half of basketball? Looking at the halftime stats: USC 13 turnovers, UCLA has nine. And UCLA is hitting just 33 percent from the field. How are the Bruins still in front? They've got 16 offensive rebounds (to USC's four).
1:22
Halftime, UCLA 32-31 . . . . very sloppy half for both clubs. The Bruins had about six turnovers in the last six or seven minutes.
Someone just said that Billy Packer or Vern Lundquist (doing the national CBS broadcast) referred to Trojan guard O.J. Mayo as "O.J SImpson" before quickly correcting himself. Well, they both play for the Trojans and wear (or wore) uniform No. 32 . . .
1:13
Timeout ... and UCLA dance team is performing to "Tainted Love" by . . . Soft Cell! UCLA up 29-27, 3:37 to go. Sloppy game . . .
1:10
UCLA 26, USC 25 and the Trojans are back in it.
Four turnovers on the last five UCLA possessions: Not surprisingly, Ben Howland called a timeout.
1:01
Taj Gibson will attempt to complete the 3-POINT-PLAY! after the timeout, which would cut UCLA's lead to 22-18 with 7:57 to play. UCLA is playing pretty good defense but, offensively, the Bruins still seem a bit out of sync against the Trojans' changing defenses.
12:52
It's tied at 11.
USC is back in a triangle-and-2. Mayo is playing with solid patience, offensively. He just made a nice penetration and, when help came, he found freshman Angelo Johnson in the left corner and he nailed a 3 to tie the score.
12:42
First TV timeout and it's UCLA 6, USC 4.
The Trojans came out in a triangle-and-2 defense for a few possessions, and have gone to a 2-3 now. Russell Westbrook penetrated it nicely and fed to Kevin Love for a dunk and the Bruins' 5th and 6th points. Westbrook is guarding O.J. Mayo straight up and he has yet to attempt a shot. He'll take a few before the game's over, though. Wink, wink.
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