Here Comes Another Crosstown Showdown

After escaping with a 59-55 victory over Arizona State, the Trojans will play UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament semifinals Friday. UCLA pounded Cal, 88-66. USC players hung out courtside during Thursday's second game to see who their next opponent would be. Since that was never really in doubt, they left early -- like a lot of the fans in Staples Center.

Unfortunately there was some trouble with my audio recording in the news conference after the USC-ASU game, so that won't get posted today. Suffice to say, Coach Tim Floyd was buoyant about the win and the performance of his team. Asked if he had any problem about the play where ASU's Jeff Pendergraph fouled out, Floyd joked that he wasn't too happy about the dunk. He also acknowledged he didn't really see the play and probably wouldn't have been too happy if the tables were turned. Sun Devil Coach Herb Sendek was obviously upset over it, but in good enough spirits to joke about getting lots of text messages from his friends (and added that his enemies don't say anything).

Even though they were fighting for their NCAA tournament lives, I didn't expect ASU to present such a big challenge for the Trojans. I also think that USC matches up really well against UCLA (especially with Daniel Hackett's continued improvement) and have a great shot at making it to the final game. However, that would be the Trojans' third game in three days. They don't match up well against Washington State and depended on a full-court press to beat Stanford. Considering the Trojans' limited depth, they could be pretty tired on Saturday. We may see a repeat of last year's tournament result.

Comments

[char]

Go Trojans!!!!

[66-19]

I'm excited. I heart this team.

[Bonnie Lee]

Hahahah that is a strange look on Lewis' face...