There’s been some grumbling in the media room and with some coaches watching after the game that USC should haven shot quicker or driven to the basket and tried to get fouled instead of waiting so long for O.J. Mayo to shoot at the buzzer.
“I was surprised,” UCLA’s Josh Shipp said. “If you miss, you dont have time to get another one off.”
USC coach Tim Floyd said he didn’t want to score quickly because he would have to foul Russell Westbrook.
The play originally called for Dwight Lewis to come off a screen and shoot a 3, or drive to the basket. But Lewis was not open because UCLA switched players and Kevin Love ended up on him.
“It depended on what the defense gave me,” Lewis said of his shot selection.
Instead, Mayo took the 3 with little time for Daniel Hackett to do much with the rebound.
“I thought I made it,” Mayo said. “It came off the right.”