Back when things made sense ““ when two and two made four
and 4-6 was the kind of record you’d see from that team
across town ““ the Bruins could practically beat USC in their
sleep.
But last night at Pauley Pavilion, where UCLA hadn’t lost
to the Trojans since the first Clinton administration, the Bruins
closed their eyes, dozed off, and waved goodnight to home dominance
of their rivals.
“This is the worst,” sophomore Ryan Walcott said.
“I hate this feeling. Right now, I wish we could play them
again on Saturday.”
Just three years after USC snapped a 10-game overall UCLA
winning streak, the Trojans put themselves in position to sweep the
Bruins for the first time since 1992.
“We’ve had tough losses in Pauley before,”
UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.
Sure, the Northridges and Northern Arizonas had come into the
hallowed confines of Pauley and snatched victories. And, on the
gridiron, the Trojans had soured the end of three football seasons
in a row.
But never in Steve Lavin’s tenure did UCLA lose to
‘SC in the hallowed confines of Pauley. Whatever it took
““ a Billy Knight buzzer-beater or a heart-on-his-sleeve Earl
Watson performance ““ the Bruins always managed to satiate
fans with a home win over USC.
Several Bruin players admitted that the Trojans played harder.
Steve Lavin said USC “beat them to the punch” on 50/50
balls. In a game that meant so much so early in the season, with
fans’ emotions jumping around quicker than a giddy Desmon
Farmer, the Bruins simply didn’t make plays.
“That’s the thing,” sophomore Dijon Thompson
said. “The fans wanted it more than we did. That’s not
how it’s supposed to be.”
USC head coach and former UCLA player Henry Bibby downplayed the
significance of a possible season sweep or even the singular
victory.
“It feels great,” he said. “We haven’t
won here in a long time, and we know they’re a … pretty
good team.”
But it’d be hard to argue against the appearance of a
slowly emerging trend. After playing patsy to the Bruins for five
seasons, ‘SC has beaten UCLA in three of the last four
years.
What had once been a certainty has drowned along with other
“sure things” in a quagmire of a season where the
Bruins are now 2-4 at home.
Lavin was reluctant to compare the statuses of the two
programs.
“Our focus is on playing better basketball,” he
said. “They did a great job tonight.”
A small contingent of USC fans chanted, “just like
football,” as the clock sounded its final ticks. In football,
athletic director Dan Guerrero said that Bob Toledo’s
inability to beat USC over the last four years contributed to his
firing.
In the wake of just his third loss to the Trojans in thirteen
games, Lavin acknowledged the employment-related rumblings that are
likely to come from a fan base starved for any kind of win over
USC.
“I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve been
fired so many times that I have lost track,” he said.