A game like this wasn’t expected to happen until January
2008.
Highly touted recruits Kevin Love (UCLA) and O.J. Mayo (USC)
were going to pack the brand-new Galen Center, and the L.A. rivalry
was once again going to become a national story.
But with the No. 4 Bruins (14-1, 3-1 Pac-10) and the Trojans off
to surprising starts this season, the much-anticipated matchup
between the two teams will occur this Saturday, a year ahead of
schedule.
“USC is playing great,” coach Ben Howland said.
“I was expecting them to move into the top 25 (this week), to
be honest with you.”
The Trojans (13-4, 3-1), who were picked to finish seventh in
the Pac-10, are tied for first in the conference (as are the
Bruins) and are one of the surprise teams in the nation.
And with forward Josh Shipp, the Bruins’ second leading
scorer, not expected to play, the test for the Bruins on Saturday
will become that much harder.
“They’re loaded with a lot of talent and playing
really well,” Howland said of USC. “They will
eventually be a ranked team.”
Saturday’s game will be the second consecutive road test
for the Bruins. After playing in a hostile environment last
Saturday in Oregon, the Bruins will be playing in the first-ever
sell out at USC’s brand-new on-campus arena.
And after losing their first conference game, the Bruins will
now also have the challenge of maintaining their place at the top
of the Pac-10 rankings.
“Nothing we did before conference play matters now,”
Howland said after Saturday’s loss in Oregon. “In my
mind, we are 3-1 as a team. Our goal every year is to win the
Pac-10 title.”
USC, under second-year coach Tim Floyd, features a trio of
talented guards in Gabriel Pruitt, Nick Young and Lodrick Stewart,
as well as a pair of talented freshmen in Daniel Hackett and Taj
Gibson.
Pruitt recently returned from academic suspension, and Young and
Gibson are two of the hottest players in the nation.
“Young is shooting 67 percent from the field in his last
seven games, and he’s just playing terrific,” Howland
said. “Gibson is right in the thick of the freshmen of the
year in our conference.
“He is a real matchup nightmare.”
The Trojans, in fact, have already defeated ranked teams in
Washington, Oregon and Wichita State and received votes in this
week’s Top 25 Associated Press poll.
Last week, Gibson was voted by espn.com as the national player
of the week.
“They had a great weekend in Oregon,” junior guard
Arron Afflalo said. “They have talented players. Their
players aren’t scared of anything.”
After the loss in Oregon last weekend, the Bruins will have
plenty to prove against the Trojans.
First and foremost is their mentality and desire on the court,
according to team captain Afflalo.
“We are going to have an aggressive mentality,”
Afflalo said. “We slipped a little bit against Oregon and
that can’t happen again.
“We have done a good job of exerting our will on other
teams this season, and we will have to do that on
Saturday.”
The Bruins realize the rivalry between USC and UCLA is different
than most games, and after the Bruins upset USC in football,
anything is possible.
“I’m going in there to upset (USC). We saw what the
football team did,” Afflalo said. “We have to prove
that we still are the best, and that is what we are going to
do.”