Trojans Can’t Seal the Deal

They just couldn’t run with the Rebels.

Or close the deal.

USC, which held a seven-point lead over Nevada Las Vegas with less than a minute to play in regulation Wednesday night, fell flat and could only gasp for air as the Runnin’ Rebels sped by with a 92-83 overtime victory, stunning a Sports Arena crowd of 2,683.

“We turned it over and we missed free throws,” said an exasperated USC Coach Henry Bibby. “You have the ballgame [won] and you just have to hold onto the ball.

“You can’t say it’s a game we should have won because we didn’t win it. Anything can happen in a basketball game.”

For USC (1-2), most anything that happened late was bad. Plus, USC was a woeful one of 23 from three-point range.

With less than six minutes to play and UNLV holding a 65-63 lead, USC took off on a 12-3 run to go up 75-68 on Jeff McMillan’s two free throws with 1:07 remaining.

But the Rebels would not die.

Senior guard Demetrius Hunter made a three-point basket from the right corner with 54.3 seconds to play and after Trojan junior forward Nick Curtis missed two free throws, Rebel forward Odartey Blankson made two free throws before USC’s final collapse.

With 20 seconds remaining, USC was leading by two and trying to beat UNLV’s full-court press. Errick Craven, though, dribbled the ball off his foot in the open court and the Rebels gained possession, calling timeout with 14.2 seconds to play.

After a Trojan timeout, Rebel point guard Jerel Blassingame took the inbounds pass from Hunter, dribbled around the perimeter and lofted a soft baseline jump shot from the right side that hit nothing but net and tied the score at 75-75 with 3.1 seconds left in regulation.

The Trojans could not get off a last-second shot and in overtime UNLV blew past USC.

The loss sullied a breakout performance by McMillan, a junior power forward who had to sit out last season after transferring from Fordham. He had his first double-double in a USC uniform with 20 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 2:23 remaining in overtime.

UNLV (4-1), which had already defeated USC’s Pacific 10 Conference rival California on Saturday and will play at Stanford on Dec. 13, won despite playing without starting center J.K. Edwards, who was slapped with a six-game suspension for his role in a campus-wide telephone calling card scam.

The Rebels were led by Hunter’s 21 points.

USC started quickly, running to a 27-15 lead.

Third-year Rebel Coach Charlie Spoonhour was at a loss to describe how his team turned the tide.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Our guys, I think, got used to their quickness finally. They are so quick up and down the court.”

The last time the schools met, on Feb. 9 in Las Vegas, the Trojans handed the Runnin’ Rebels a 25-point loss.

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Trojan recruit Robert Swift, a 7-foot center from Bakersfield who is considered a potential NBA draft pick in June, sat two rows behind the Trojan bench wearing a Trojan sweatshirt and T-shirt. He has yet to decide whether he will make himself available for the NBA draft or attend USC next year.

Bibby, who has compared the high school senior to Bill Walton, has made it known that he would like to have Swift for at least one year.

“It especially helps a lot knowing that Coach Bibby is willing to help me advance to where I want to go,” Swift said, “whether I play one year or four years.”

Swift, a national top-10 recruit, had been ruled ineligible after transferring to Bakersfield High but last week regained his eligibility. He had been contemplating playing at a Connecticut prep school this year.

“Right now I want to finish my senior year strong, academically and athletically and whatever presents itself, the NBA or here, I’m going to have to decide then,” Swift said.