The Trojans won the first time around (Jan. 19, Pauley Pavilion). But they're missing their most underrated player tonight since Daniel Hackett is in street clothes, courtesy a back injury.
It's "Blackout Night" for USC tonight. Lots of USC faithful dressed in (mostly) black. Catchy.
Now I'm blogging . . .
8:59
Well, it was kind of gnarly to watch. UCLA's offense was nearly good enough to be called "sluggish" but it still looked darn-right prolific next to the Trojans'. And I'm not sure what O.J. Mayo's best game was this season but I sure know when and where he endured his worst performance. I have yet to see the final stats but I'm guessing he had right at 10 or so turnovers.
The Oregons come to Southern California and the Bruins and Trojans need sweeps: UCLA to maintain its advantage in the Pacific 10 Conference lead and USC to bolster its NCAA Tournament at-large hopes.
A "classic" this wasn't. OK. Enough of the bashing and I'll be on my way.
8:47
Now that is a manly offensive rebound by Kevin Love (ripping the ball away from Davon Jefferson) to give the Bruins an eight-point lead with a TV TO being dropped upon us with 2:34 remaining.
8:43
The coaches and players from the winning team are bound to disagree with my assessment but . . . this now, officially, the ugliest game I've watched this season. Offense is non existent. And we can say it's all because of rock-solid defense, either. Painful to watch . . .
8:35
UCLA's offense has got stagnant (solid D by the Trojans) and the Bruins' lead is only six points (46-40). This rates among the "ugly" games, offensively, of the season. Of course, it's one of those "Eye of the Beholder"-kind of deals, if stingy half-court defense is a turn-on for you.
8:25
UCLA up 44-33, Collison shooting a FT after the TV TO at 11:33 ends. Mayo one bucket and about seven turnovers.
8:08
The Bruins are still up by eight (35-27) after a breakaway dunk by Russell Westbrook but Howland called a timeout immediately after the dunk (with 18:05). My guess is he isn't happy with the way Gibson is dominating in the low post. He scored two buckets inside the lane in the first minute of the second half.
7:47
OK. It's intermission and UCLA leads, 31-23.
Not much offensive continuity in the game, which isn't surprising considering both teams (and coaches Howland and Tim Floyd) put such a premium on defensive game-planning. The Trojans also were hurt when Davon Jefferson picked up his second foul and went to the bench for the rest of the half with 8:03 to go. UCLA led at the time, 18-15. Mayo scored only two points, taking a lob pass from Dwight Lewis for a dunk with 1:42 remaining on a set play after a timeout.
By the way, I just read that Duke lost its first ACC game tonight (at Wake Forest). Oh, and by the way: How about Memphis moving that game out at UAB Saturday night to remain unbeaten? The Tigers could lose at home to Tennessee next Saturday night and still roll into the tournament with the No. 1 overall seed.
7:43
It's still a bit of a sloppy game, offensively, but the Bruins lead, 29-21, with 2:12 in large part because of their commitment to hitting the floor for loose balls. They've turned three of those situations into transition baskets. Mayo still hasn't scored. Love got his first bucket (a 3) with 5:52 to play.
7:33
It's a bit if a grind-it-out type of deal. Not much in the way of transition offense and USC has turned it over seven times. The Trojans trail only 20-19, though, because they're doing a solid job rebounding their and following in their own misses. Mayo has taken just one shot and is scoreless.
7:24
We've had three timeouts in about a minute and a half: one each called by UCLA and USC, and TV TO No. 2 . . . oh, yeah: the Trojans now lead, 15-14. They've got three (if I recall correctly) follow shots for dunks. Forceful offensive rebounding by the home team and failure to put bodies on bodies by the visitors.
7:20
A missed block out by Lorenzo Real-Mata led to a follow dunk by Taj Gibson and that resulted in an immediate timeout by Ben Howland, whose team still leads, 14-13.
7:15
First teley TO and it's UCLA 11, USC 9.
The Trojans have blocked a couple of Kevin Love shots but the big freshman had a stupendous (or something like it) hustle and dive for a loose ball that the Bruins turned into a follow dunk by Josh Shipp, after which Shipp glared at O.J. Mayo.
7:05:
Black unys for the Trojans, as well!
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