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USC Falls to Michigan State 74-69 in 2nd Round of NCAA Tournament

The game was evenly played for almost 38 minutes, but in the end SC fell for the same reason they've fallen the past two NCAA tournaments:  lack of front-court depth.  You can argue that bad officiating was a major factor, but unfortunately it is part of the game and a legitimate reason why you need depth to win championships.

As soon as Taj picked up his 4th foul off a ridiculous call away from the ball, the game was essentially over.  SC fought strong with a small line-up but the lack of post presence and the need to team rebound only created open shots for Michigan State on the perimeter and to their credit they knocked them down at key moments.

Next Season

As for next season, at this point I think Demar and Taj will jump to the NBA. Demar's stock has risen in the past month and he's a lock to become a lottery pick, so that means goodbye.  Taj will need to enter the draft if he has hopes of making the NBA.  As the past two years have shown, he's not going to get any bigger, and the fact that he's old for his class will only work against him the longer he stays in college.

Daniel Hackett is another player that could possibly leave early to play in Italy, although it's less likely since his dad is on staff, but I wouldn't rule it out completely.  

Next year's team has solid potential with the core of possibly Daniel Hackett, Dwight Lewis, Leonard Washington, Nikola Vucevic, possibly Marcus Johnson (if NCAA gives him extra year), possibly Marcus Simmons (if he doesn't transfer) plus Alex Stepheson, the transfer from UNC, and an excellent incoming class. Oh, and who can forget LiL RoMeO?  The x-factor of course.

USC Beats Boston College 72-55 in 1st Round of NCAA Tournament

USC put the clamps down in the 2nd half and pulled away to a pretty comfortable victory.  Taj was the obvious player of the game with 24 points on 10-of-10 shooting.  An interesting fact on Taj's performance:

Gibson’s perfect shooting was the second-best performance in NCAA tournament history with a minimum 10 attempts, behind Kentucky’s Kenny Walker and his 11-for-11 in 1986. Gibson matched Marvin Barnes of Providence and Christian Laettner of Duke, who were 10-for-10 in 1973 and 1992, respectively.

Up next is Michigan State on Sunday.

Rivals.com - Kansas State Breakdown

From Rivals.com:

BACKCOURT: Most of Kansas State's experience lies in the backcourt with Stewart and Young. Those seniors play complementary roles, though, to the Wildcats' star freshmen in the frontcourt. Pullen gets lost with the other freshmen on the team, but he showed his potential for the future by finishing third on the team in scoring.

FRONTCOURT: What can be said of Beasley that hasn't been said already? He may be the best player in the nation and probably will be the No. 1 overall pick. He can do everything from rebound to overpower defenders to shoot the 3-pointer. Walker can sometimes let his emotions get the best of him, but when he's composed, he is a quick and athletic scorer.

X-FACTOR: The Wildcats were a different team on the road than they were at home, going 3-5 away from Manhattan in Big 12 play. They'll have to learn how to deal with adversity away from home if they are to have any chance of making a run.

THE BUZZ: Beasley is one of the best players in the country, but his supporting cast is among the most volatile. Beasley could carry the team deep in the tournament or the Wildcats could lose in the first round.

I'd like to see us put someone like Hackett (or lesser degree Lewis) on Beasley, even though it looks like Daniel will be on Bill Walker, and provide help defense if Beasley tries to take it inside.  Daniel can stay with Beasley off the dribble, meaning he won't get into foul trouble, and is smart enough to put a body on him every time the ball goes up.  I think with Davon, you run the risk of getting into foul trouble early and being short-manned for a large chunk of the game.  Going smaller and taking away Beasley's ability to drive forces him to shoot outside or kick out to a backcourt that isn't used to carrying the scoring load.  More importantly, it keeps Michael away from tipping in baskets, getting put-backs off offensive rebounds, and drawing fouls, which he is all excellent at doing.  As long as we keep KSU off the offensive boards and force their backcourt to step up offensively, we should be in good shape.

Mayo vs. B-Easy - 1st Round Thoughts

From ESPN.com:

Friends turned foes: No. 6 seed USC vs. No. 11 seed Kansas State

Forget the superstudly freshmen matchup between O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley. Mayo and K-State's Bill Walker have been best friends since elementary school. The two were teammates at North College Hill High School in Cincinnati and, as you can imagine, North College Hill was pretty good. With those two on the roster, the school won two state titles and ranked among the nation's best teams. Before their senior seasons, the Ohio high school association ruled Walker had exhausted his eligibility, and Mayo bolted to Huntington High (W. Va.). The friendship, though, never suffered. In fact, the two were so tight most people figured their college choice would be a package deal. Instead, they'll be first-round foes in Omaha.

Hey O.J. called it.  I was hoping for a 5th seed, but getting a 6th seed was fair so no real complaints from me.  Clemson's run in the ACC tournament really hurt our chances for that 5th seed.  After letting our draw settle in, I actually think we have a decent road to the championship.  K-State will be a tough first-round match-up, but if we get past the 'Cats, we'll play against Wisconsin, a Wazzu-like team that is definitely beatable, and then face a Georgetown team that I think Coach Floyd can out-ugly and pull off the upset.  But of course, one game at a time right? 

K-State is a interesting 1st round match-up due to (1) the storyline between O.J. and Beasley and Billy Walker and (2) the erratic play of the Wildcats.  The 'Cats, much like SC, are a team capable of beating anyone when they're on, but also look incredibly average at times.  I think the main difference between the two teams is, the 'Cats fizzled out to the end the season while we hit our stride.  I believe Coach Floyd's ability to exploit teams with prominent scorers will be the deciding factor in Thursday's game.  If I had to name the keys, it would be to keep B-Easy out of the post and let him shoot outside all he wants, let Walker and Davon cancel each other out, and just suffocate the hell out of K-State's suspect guard play.  The worst thing we can do is focus too much attention on Beasley.  Think back to the Baylor/K-State game, B-Easy went for 44 and Walker 31, but still lost by 6.  How were the guards in that game?  The starters combined for 6 points on 1 of 15 shooting.

Finally, I normally don't write much on the Bruins, but the easiest road to the Final Four AGAIN?!  That is 3 years in a row now.  Might as well pencil in the Bruins in the Final Four.  Duke as their #2 seed?  Man, that is really funny.  Singler is going to have nightmares of K-Love in HS.  The only real threat in the West is UConn and UCLA should be able to handle them.  Maybe the NCAA Selection Committee was feeling sympathetic towards Coach Wooden?  No excuses for the Bruins this year. 

USC Selection Show Video Interviews Galore

WeAreSC.com has a bunch of video interviews with the basketball team from yesterday's Selection Show viewing.  What I want to know is where O.J. got that Jordan/Spike Lee t-shirt cause it's REAL nice.

Andy Katz Chooses SC As Dark-horse Final Four Pick

The media is catching on.  Actually, Andy Katz has been pretty favorable towards SC since the beginning of the season.  You have to remember that he picked O.J. to be National Player of the Year. 

NCAA Tournament Update

Stewart Mandel of SI.com has SC as a 4th seed in the South bracket facing George Mason in the first round.  I think that's a little high at this point, but it could be a reality if we beat ASU on Thursday.  My bet would still be on a 5th seed at this point.

Tonight USD upset Gonzaga and received an automatic birth into the tournament which will help our SOS and also move the Zags out of the 5-6th range in terms of seeding.  Although I don't think the upset will have a direct effect on our placement, I do think it raises the floor a bit higher. 

SC's season-ending momentum is really starting to grab people's attention, check out this quote from Spencer Hall of SportingNews.com:

No one will claim the Trojans are a dark-horse Final Four team. OK, at least we won't -- but no team wants to see O.J. Mayo and Davon Jefferson in its bracket.

Freshman prodigies with spectacular athleticism, too young to realize they're not supposed to win a game in the NCAA Tournament, are dangerous, dangerous things.

Like I said in a post on Sunday, SC is one SCARY team to face in the tournament.  We have the potential to go deep, but also lose in the 1st/2nd round because of lack of depth in big men. 

Final: USC 77, Stanford 64

From ESPN.com:

Taj Gibson added 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Trojans, who outrebounded the taller Cardinal 47-31.

"We were able to get them on the boards. I couldn't envision that going in," Floyd said. "Taj was terrific on the boards and we got a lot of rebounds from our guards."

Stanford came in averaging 7.2 rebounds more than its opponents to rank second in the conference. The Cardinal outrebounded the Trojans 48-31 in a 52-46 victory over USC two months ago, with 23 of their rebounds at the offensive end. USC had 18 offensive rebounds and Stanford 12 in this game.

That was one FUN game to watch.  I loved the intensity we came out with and Floyd's decision to use full-court pressure against a lackadaisical Stanford team.  It was a great move because it gave the Cardinals less time to get into their sets and forced Stanford's bigs to play out of position.  The result was SC outrebounding Stanford by 13.

Watching the UNC vs. Duke game later in the evening, the Gameday crew and CB analysts all echoed the same opinion:  SC is going to be a dangerous team in the tournament.  If we can play with the same intensity we showed yesterday, this team can easily get to the Sweet 16 and beyond.  Unfortunately, I can also see this team getting a 2nd round (maybe even 1st round depending on the team) bounce because of our lack of bigs and tendency to be streaky. 

Right now I see us as a 5th or 6th seed, but if we have a good showing in the Pac-10 tournament, I can see us moving up to a 4th seed.  If we win the whole thing impressively, a case for a 3 seed can be made.  Optimistic?  Maybe a little bit.  Last year we finished in a three-way tie for 3rd in the Pac-10 with a 11-7 conference record and a 23-11 overall record plus got to the Pac-10 finals and ended up a 5th seed.  This year we finished 4th in the Pac-10 in a strong year and have a better SOS/RPI, so everything considered, I think a 5th seed is the safest prediction.  The game against ASU on Thursday is going to be a tough one because they are still a bubble team and need to have a good showing, so like the proverbial saying, "We just need to take it one game at a time." 

Final: USC 70, Arizona 58

From ESPN.com:

O.J. Mayo scored 20 points and USC withstood an Arizona comeback to hand the Wildcats their fifth home loss of the season, 70-58, on Thursday night.

In a matchup of two of the game's best freshmen, Mayo got the better of Arizona's Jerryd Bayless, who matched his season low of eight points, 13 below his season average. The Wildcats' other top scorer, Chase Budinger, scored only seven points.

Davon Jefferson had 15 points and 14 rebounds and 14 rebounds for the Trojans (18-9, 9-6 Pac-10), who never trailed and led by as many as 16 in the first half. Taj Gibson added 14 points and Dwight Lewis 11.

Great game from the team last night.  As I've been saying for about a month now, I believe a .500 conference record will secure a bid to the NCAA tournament, so with tonight's victory I think we shake off the "bubble" tag and can now be considered a lock.  From here on out, we'll be playing for seeding, and I think we're in the 7-10 range at the moment.

Nearly every player stepped up tonight and I thought it was our best game of the year.  We executed to near perfection and really suffocated defensively.  I have to give a lot of credit to Daniel, who played a great game and really provided some valuable minutes.  Apart from his miss under the basket and his defense against Bayless on the break, you would have never guessed that he has a stress fracture in his lower back and partially torn oblique muscles.  Just a great game overall from the team.