Trojans burst under pressure from Blue Devils

  KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff USC junior
forward Sam Clancy elevates above two Duke
defenders to shoot in the Trojans’ 79-69 loss to the Blue Devils in
the Elite Eight. Elite Eight Duke 79 USC 69

By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Staff

PHILADELPHIA “”mdash; All season long, the USC men’s
basketball team opened a lot of eyes to the idea that there
actually is another school that can play hoops in Los Angeles.

With arguably the greatest team in school history, the
sixth-seeded Trojans continued to impress in the NCAA Tournament.
They upset third-seeded Boston College and then stunned
second-seeded Kentucky to make the school’s first-ever Elite
Eight appearance in the tournament’s current format.

While the eye-opening journey came to a halt on March 24 as USC
(24-10) fell 79-69 in the East Regional finals to the juggernaut
that is Duke (33-4) basketball, the point was made: USC is no
longer a football school.

“We’re the pioneers,” said Trojan power
forward Sam Clancy, whose team came one victory short of reaching
the school’s first Final Four appearance since 1954.
“We’re changing the way basketball is going to be
viewed at USC.”

Add Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is taking his school to
its ninth Final Four under his watch, to the growing list of those
who now have a different view of Trojan basketball.

“I’m so happy for our guys,” he said.
“We beat a veteran team that’s so well coached. They
scared the heck out of me. It was an honor to play against (Trojan
Head Coach) Henry Bibby’s team. They’re some terrific
competitors and we feel fortunate to have beat them.”

The devastating duo of Jason Williams and Shane Battier was once
again the difference for Duke. Williams, who burned UCLA for a
career-high 34 points in the Sweet Sixteen, dropped 28 points while
Battier added 20 points and 10 rebounds.

But in the second half, when it came to pulling away from the
Trojans, who trailed 43-38 at halftime, it was a lesser-known
player ““ freshman shooting guard Chris Duhon ““ that
answered the bell.

Duhon nailed two three pointers late in the second half that
ended a couple of USC runs and drove a dagger into any hopes of a
comeback.

The first trey came after Clancy hit a baseline turnaround to
close Duke’s lead to 67-59 at the 5:49 mark. Williams then
found Duhon on an ensuing inbounds play and the guard buried a
jumper in front of the Blue Devil bench to give his team an
11-point cushion.

Two minutes later, the freshman stuck another trifecta to put
Duke up 75-64.

Bibby admitted after the game that the game plan was to leave
Duhon open in order for his team to pressure Williams and Battier,
Duke’s two top scorers.

“We felt that two players could beat you on the team so we
went with the percentages of Duhon making some shots,” he
said. “He’s a big time college player on the number one
team in the country. He should be able to make one or two shots
here and there and he did.”

“I kind of figured that because the guy that was guarding
me kept leaving me,” Duhon said. “It was like, “˜I
dare you to shoot.’ Once I hit that first one I had a lot of
confidence flowing through my blood and my teammates kept kicking
the ball to me and I kept letting them go.”

Altogether it was a difficult experience for USC, which was
always just a couple of three pointers from catching Duke, but were
unable to get over the hump.

“Our goal was to get it down to five by the five-minute
mark and every time we looked up it was still a 10- or nine-point
deficit,” said Trojan forward David Bluthenthal, who finished
with 17 points and 13 rebounds. “It seemed that we were
playing catch-up the whole game.”

While the team expressed disappointment in failing to reach the
school’s first Final Four berth in 47 years, it can take
pleasure in the fact that it was the best Trojan basketball team
ever.

USC’s 24 wins tie a school record and the three wins in
the 2001 NCAA tournament are the most ever by the program.

The future looks bright for Trojan basketball. While they will
lose forward Brian Scalabrine and guard Jeff Trepagnier, players
who combined to average 24 points a game this year, to graduation,
USC fans can be excited about who is returning.

Perhaps USC’s best returning player is Clancy, who is
built like a linebacker and is nearly impossible to contain in the
paint. Sweet-shooting forward Bluthenthal, and point guard Brandon
Granville will also return.

Add impressive sophomore-to-be Desmon Farmer and a solid
recruiting class and USC figures to be tough to beat in 2002.

In addition, the players said the Duke defeat will inspire them
in the off-season.

“This loss leaves a bitter taste in your mouth,”
Granville said. “Hopefully for everybody returning, we can
keep this in the back of our minds and it will make us work harder
during the summer. Those days when you don’t feel like
getting up to go shoot, hopefully this pushes you over the edge to
get up and go work out.”

Scalabrine agrees.

“I’ll tell you two reasons why they are going to be
in the weight room,” he said. “(Kentucky power forward)
Jason Parker and (Duke forward) Carlos Boozer.”

Scalabrine and his teammates can also relish the fact that this
year’s team has done wonders in changing the perception of
Trojan basketball. USC, which has never won a title in basketball,
has always been known more for its football prowess, where it has
won several championships.

The basketball program has always played second fiddle to the
11-time national champion and high profile UCLA program in Los
Angeles. The Trojans think that’s changing.

“This was a great run,” Scalabrine said.
“It’s going to help USC out tremendously, as far as
everything they are trying to do.”