Philadelphia — USC’s got this whole “tradition” thing whipped.
You’ll have to excuse the upstart Trojans if they’re less than impressed with the Duke Blue Devils. The University of SouthernCalifornia has played second fiddle in college basketball to home-town rival UCLA forever.
Against Kentucky in Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup, the Trojans piled on against another storied program, so what’s one more?
It’s not that USC has nine NCAATournament wins to its name and Duke 70. It’s just that the Trojans don’t care. They’re playing good basketball, winners of their last six games, and if they keep playing well starting tonight at 7, they might just find themselves in the FinalFour.
“When the kids want to play, want to perform, they perform,”USChead coach Henry Bibby said. “The light comes on one day and they decide that’s what they want to do. I think I’ve used every motivational speech I can use, and hopefully one time it clicks in.”
The talk around the First Union Center on Friday focused on SouthernCal’s still-perceived role as the unheralded underdog. But after wins over No. 3 seed Boston College and No. 2 Kentucky, the No. 1 Blue Devils won’t be overlooking this sixth-seed.
“They’re really tough. They’re men,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I think they’ve a veteran team that has played together. It’s a difficult matchup for us.”
Southern Cal’s run through the tournament has keyed on two primary weapons — a lightning quick start and a matchup zone defense that makes most offenses look like they’ve had one day of practice instead of an entire season.
In a first-round win over Oklahoma State, USCbuilt a 48-19 halftime lead and limited the Cowboys to 44-percent shooting. Boston College’s furious comeback fell short in the second round thanks to 30-percent shooting. Kentucky’s attempt at rebounding from a 43-24 halftime deficit also failed.
“They’ve gotten off to the best starts of anybody in the tournament,” Krzyzewski said. “They know who they are, they don’t look like they get too excited, they go about their business. We have to get off to a start to match theirs so we don’t play behind right away.”
Another working lead is something Bibby’s squad is shooting for, though.
“You never know how a game’s going to go,”Bibby said. “We’ve come out in all the games in the NCAATournament with a lot of energy, and I expect us to come out that way Saturday. We really come out focused, and if we can continue to focus that way we’ll be OK.”
Duke (32-4) played USC (24-9)last year in the Wooden Classic early in the season, pulling out an 81-68 victory.
All the important Trojans return from that game, and all have stuck in the Blue Devils’ minds.
“At least our guys have some familiarity with how tall they are and that they’re really good,” Krzyzewski said. “We had a tough game against them.”
Three Trojans scored in double figures last year, including athletic junior center Sam Clancy, who leads the squad with 17.2 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.
Clancy, at 6-foot-7, heads a front line of quick, talented big men. Senior center Brian Scalabrine, at 6-9, took Kentucky star Tayshaun Prince off the dribble and pulled up for several key jumpers in Thursday’s win. He averages 14.7 points and 6.1 boards a night.
Then there’s 6-7 junior forward David Bluthenthal, who bombed home six 3-pointers for a game-high 27 points against the Wildcats. He averages 13.4 points and 6.6 rebounds a game and can get the job done from the post or the perimeter.
USC’s backcourt features athletic senior guard Jeff Trepagnier and point man Brandon Granville, whose primary job will be to limit Jason Williams’ explosiveness. Williams scored 19 straight points during Duke’s 76-63 victory over UCLAon Thursday.
“Jason Williams is a great player, but I think we’re a team that can throw a lot of different defenses at Duke, switch it up a lot and hopefully confuse them, tire them down,”Granville said.
To this point in the tournament, USC’s opponents have succumbed to that strategy.
“They have a unique matchup zone. It’s kind of like their offense, in that it’s personalized just for them,” Krzyzewski said. “They do some trapping out of it. Trepagnier makes it look they have six players out there at times because he covers so much ground.”
Duke’s offense recovered from a slow start against the Bruins thanks to Williams and Shane Battier, who combined for 58 of their team’s points. Bibby’s game plan against Kentucky was to take away stars Prince and Keith Bogans, which he did successfully. How well that works against Duke’s multi-talented offense remains to be seen.
“I think it’s difficult to take everything away that those two guys do,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t even know what they’re going to do. We’re not as structured. We play to their strengths and their instincts.”
Both squads love running up and down the court, trapping and pressing away, which could make for a fun evening despite what’s at stake — the East Region championship and a Final Four date in Minneapolis next weekend.
“We like to run, they like to run,”Battier said. “We want to make it a high-turnover game hopefully for them. We like to get out and just play basketball.”
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NOTES: Duke forward Mike Dunleavy, who injured his shoulder Thursday night, is feeling better. He said it felt as though he were playing with a five-pound weight hanging on his elbow against the Bruins, but that he expects to be fine tonight. … Center Carlos Boozer also showed no ill effects from his 22 minutes of action after missing six games.
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