USC beats UCLA 63-52

Trojan tangle. UCLA's Jerime Anderson gets wrapped up by USC's Maurice Jones, left, and Donte Smith during the first half. (David Crane/LA Daily News)

UCLA men’s basketball team lacks passion of rivalry

By ELI SMUKLER
Published January 11, 2011
The Daily Bruin in Men's Basketball, Sports
Updated: 12:28 AM


Knock, knock, Bruins. You’ve got mail.

It’s not a care package from Mom, though, or a birthday check from Grandpa.

No, it’s one of those annoying musical greeting cards and when opened, it shrieks at you in a piercing mechanical voice:
“We are ’SC!”

And the shame just washes over you.

Sunday night at the Galen Center, the elated Trojan men’s basketball team skipped around the court, high-fiving each other in celebration, unconcerned that its premature festivities would mean the shot clock would soon run out. The game – and the hold on this rivalry – was already theirs.

The Bruins could do nothing except stand with their hands on their hips, marinating in everything: the sell-out crowd of Cardinal and Gold, the stadium’s displays flashing “Fight On!” and, of course, the score.

“If they were trying to send a message, the message was sent,” guard Jerime Anderson said after the Bruins’ 63-52 defeat, the fourth straight to their crosstown rival.

There was a message being sent all right and the 10,258 mostly Trojan fans in attendance on Sunday night signed the card, too.

With classes starting the next day, USC’s student section was full to the brim – quite a statement coming from the school ranked last in the Pac-10 in home attendance so far this year and one with a reputation for caring more about the goings-on on the gridiron than the hardships of the hardcourt.

At halftime of the basketball game, the football team’s newest recruits were shuffled out onto center court for formal introductions, which allowed for perhaps the greatest applause of the night to that point.

It kept getting louder though, once the Trojans stormed back from an early second-half deficit to secure the lead for the rest of the game.

The current streak that USC basketball is building over UCLA, which includes a victory in the 2009 Pac-10 tournament and a 21-point thumping last year at Pauley Pavilion, is cause for worry in Westwood. Keep in mind we’re not talking about football – although there’s an equivalent streak there as well – or water polo or volleyball. This is men’s basketball.

Even with UCLA’s well-rounded athletic program – 106 NCAA titles and counting – everyone knows where the Bruin bread gets buttered. This school’s basketball team is one of the game’s legendary programs, built on the immortal reputation of the game’s best coach and the aura of one of its most famous arenas.

A year and a half into his tenure at USC, coach Kevin O’Neill now has a 3-0 record in the series and the significance of that rare accomplishment is not lost on him.

“It’s not just another game,” O’Neill said. “When you’ve beaten UCLA, you’ve beaten tradition.”

The environment at the 5-year-old arena on Figueroa Street that night was anything but traditional. The place felt like a professional arena (not an O.J. Mayo joke, I promise) and the pregame player introductions with the dimmed lights and the blasting apocalyptic soundtrack could have been the prologue to a Hollywood summer blockbuster.

After the massive HD screen in the center of the building projected the image of a UCLA logo detonated into a thousand pieces, the team’s marketing slogan appeared out of the wreckage: “Witness the Rise!”

Is that what UCLA is being forced to do? Are the Bruins now just simple bystanders in the Los Angeles basketball scene?

Like it or not, the most reliable measure for UCLA sports teams across the board is how they can compare to the kids playing in red jerseys across town. The men’s basketball team used to be exempt from this rule. Beating USC would be necessary, but not close to enough to satisfy expectations.

While every other team on this campus speaks about the rivalry in the language of bloodthirst, some UCLA men’s basketball players have occasionally shrugged off any extra importance of beating USC.

In the week leading up to Sunday’s game, UCLA sophomore forward Reeves Nelson denied any personal enmity for USC or the basketball team he would soon face.

“I think it’s more of a media thing and maybe an old-timer thing,” he said. “I just want to beat every team we play regardless.”

Sunday’s disheartening performance by the Bruins emboldened their Trojan counterparts. In fact, USC is now looking like the strongest candidate to get the Pac-10’s second NCAA Tournament bid, quite possibly a direct selection over UCLA, based on the two teams’ head-to-head competition.

This latest loss to the Trojans, which drops the Bruins to 1-2 in the Pac-10, should sting. It needs to.

The scar of this loss needs to burn all the way up until the USC basketball team returns to Westwood on Feb. 2. If it doesn’t, if UCLA can’t muster the same passion as its rival, then prepare for a long, cold offseason in the blue and gold parts of this city.

Smukler co-hosts the Daily Bruin Sports Show, which airs every Monday at 6:30 p.m. on uclaradio.com. E-mail him at esmukler@media.ucla.edu.
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USC's Kevin O'Neill has edge over UCLA's Ben Howland in matchups

His Trojans beat Bruins for third straight time since he was hired, and physical defense and bigger will to win makes the difference. He knows rivalries are cyclical but important to team psyche.

By Baxter Holmes
The Los Angeles Times
6:00 PM PST, January 10, 2011


On Sunday, USC's Kevin O'Neill earned something of a hat trick.

His Trojans beat crosstown rival UCLA, 63-52, for the third straight time since he was hired as USC's men's basketball coach in 2009.

While O'Neill won't downplay his recent success against UCLA and Bruins Coach Ben Howland, he won't say he has Howland's number, either.

"No, I don't think that at all," O'Neill said Monday. "I would never be crazy enough to think that."

O'Neill's head-to-head record against Howland is 3-2 overall, the losses coming when he was Arizona's interim head coach in the 2007-08 season.

Then, Howland's Bruins, which featured future NBA players such as Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison, beat Arizona by 22 at Pauley Pavilion and by two in Tucson.

"That was a great, great team," O'Neill said.

The same cannot be said for Howland's current team, which is coming off a losing season and has no seniors on its roster.

Conversely, USC isn't in the best shape either, having lost five recruits from its 2009 recruiting class and three senior starters from last season. It's also on NCAA-mandated probation until 2014 and is one season removed from a postseason ban.

Before Sunday, the teams had nearly identical records marked with embarrassing losses, upsets over ranked teams and nail-biting thrillers at Kansas that came down to the end.

Further, each offered lineups with five players scoring in double digits, a top-notch inside duo, freshmen at key positions and two defensive-minded coaches.

UCLA led by two at halftime, but USC controlled the second half and beat the Bruins for the fourth straight time.

Howland praised USC's inside players after the game and also credited O'Neill, saying, "He's done a great job."

O'Neill shrugged off the idea that he has an edge over Howland and said success in rivalries is often cyclical and that UCLA is struggling now because of its youth.

But like Howland, O'Neill's trademark is a physical defense, and the Trojans have fared better in that category, holding the Bruins to an average of 57.3 points in their last three meetings.

And in each of the wins, it wasn't just USC's defense that made the difference. The Trojans simply played as if they wanted it more.

Part of that is O'Neill's ability to motivate his players, said former USC Coach Bob Boyd, whose 13-year run (1967-79) as the Trojans coach was overshadowed by UCLA's dynasty under John Wooden.

"He doesn't think he can't beat anybody," Boyd said. "He really doesn't. And he conveys that to his players."

Junior forward Nikola Vucevic, who has played in all three of O'Neill's wins against UCLA and scored a game-high 20 points Sunday, agreed. ""He always tells us we don't know how good we can be and that if we play hard and play good defense, we can beat anybody," Vucevic said.

UCLA isn't just anybody. O'Neill knows that.

"When you beat UCLA, you've beaten tradition," he said Sunday night.

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USC stretches bragging rights against UCLA with 63-52 win

Alex Stepheson helps the Trojans make it four victories in a row in the crosstown rivalry.

January 09, 2011By Baxter Holmes
The Los Angeles Times


It meant more for Alex Stepheson.

USC's senior forward couldn't call Sunday night's 63-52 win over UCLA just a win, or even just a big win against a rival.


He's homegrown, a former star at North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake.

Beating UCLA (9-6, 1-2 in Pacific 10 Conference), which USC (10-6, 2-1) has done four consecutive times, is beyond big.

"It means everything to us," said Stepheson, who keyed the win with 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. "Especially being from L.A., knowing what the rivalry is, it's huge. It's bragging rights."

Behind a roaring, Trojans-friendly sellout-crowd of 10,258, a rare occurrence at the Galen Center, USC separated itself in the second half against its cross-town foe.

USC trailed by two points at halftime, but started the second half with a 12-4 run. It was a sign of things to come.

As the game wore on, UCLA began to implode and USC got stronger.

The Bruins turned it over, and the Trojans capitalized with baskets.

UCLA failed to block out, and USC snuck in for offensive rebounds and tip-ins.

When the Bruins made a shot to stop the bleeding, the Trojans made two or three more to open the wound even more.

The crowd, nearly devoid of UCLA fans, roared and roared, and USC, wearing black jerseys against the Bruins' powder blue, toughened up and tightened its defense.

"The stretch we played in the second half toward the end was as active and as good defensively as we've been all year," USC Coach Kevin O'Neill said.

UCLA shot 57% (12 of 21) in the first half, but only 26% (seven of 27) in the second. USC shot 52% (13 of 25) in the second half, scoring 20 points in the paint.

The Bruins committed eight second-half turnovers, which USC turned into 11 points.

"You can see our youth in not handling adversity when things go against us," Coach Ben Howland said.

The big-man matchup of Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic versus Reeves Nelson and Joshua Smith amounted to little.

Vucevic had 20 points and Reeves had 14, but scored only two in the second half. Smith got in foul trouble and finished with eight points and three rebounds.

Stepheson guarded Smith and played just as big as the 6-foot-10, 305-pound freshman.

Playing his first game without a brace on his left hand, which Stepheson fractured in USC's opener against UC Irvine on Nov. 13, he said he played tentatively in the first half, scared someone might hit that hand.

"But I think once I got past the fear of the first half," Stepheson said, "I was able to really catch the ball, get some rebounds and get after it."

UCLA has lost two consecutive games after winning six in a row, and part of that was poor guard play.

Junior guard Lazeric Jones, playing in his first game since rupturing a tendon in his right middle finger against Washington, struggled mightily, scoring only two points and missing his seven shots.

And junior forward Tyler Honeycutt had 10 points and nine rebounds, but committed a game-high seven turnovers, many while hounded by Marcus Simmons.

Former UCLA star Tyus Edney spoke to the Bruins before the game, but what inspiration he gave them lasted only one half.

Vucevic blocked forward Brendan Lane's layup try as the buzzer sounded, punctuating the win.

USC has won six of eight, and its four-game streak over UCLA is its longest since winning four straight from 2002 to 2004.
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USC basketball coach O'Neill still has UCLA's number

Trojans coach improves to 3-0 against Bruins

By Scott Wolf, Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 01/09/2011 10:48:47 PM PST
Updated: 01/09/2011 11:10:51 PM PST

Whatever else Kevin O'Neill does as USC's coach, he has developed a reputation for defeating his crosstown rival.

O'Neill improved to a perfect 3-0 against UCLA with a 63-52 victory over the Bruins on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd of 10,258 at Galen Center.

The victory also gave the Trojans their first four-game winning streak over UCLA since the 2003-04 season.

"I guess that's important around here," O'Neill joked after the game. "USC and UCLA compete. They are the tradition of Pac-10 basketball. Everybody's measured against them. I feel very fortunate. It won't go on forever."

With an intense atmosphere inside the arena, it was clear the game meant a lot to both teams, with players pushing and bumping each other on every possession.

"It means everything to us," USC forward Alex Stepheson said. "It's bragging rights. The whole city of L.A. was watching."

UCLA (9-6, 1-2) looked in position to win the game but went cold in the second half, missing 15 of its first 18 shots. But the Bruins trailed by only 50-44 late in the second half despite their problems.

"You can see our youth," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "We did not handle the adversity when things went against us in the second half."

The Bruins made only seven of 27 shots in the second half. Junior guard Lazeric Jones missed all seven shots in the game while forward Tyler Honeycutt was 3 for 10. Honeycutt, the Sylmar High product, was contained by USC's best defender, Marcus Simmons.

"Marcus is a lock-down defender," USC guard Jio Fontan said. "I see it every day in practice when he guards me."

The Bruins' cold shooting hurt more because they were unable to contain USC forward Nikola Vucevic, who scored 20 points and made 9 of 16 shots.

"Once they stopped double-teaming me I felt comfortable going one-on-one against them," Vucevic said.

Stepheson also influenced the contest with a game-high 16 rebounds and 13 points.

The senior from Harvard-Westlake in Studio City played his first game without a cast on his left hand, which he broke before the season.

"Definitely the first half was different (without the cast)," Stepheson said. "I had to get used to it, using two hands."

O'Neill praised Stepheson for managing the early part of the schedule with the injury.

"This guy played 10 games when he shouldn't have with a broken hand," O'Neill said.

The crowd was easily USC's largest of the season and the atmosphere much livelier than normal. Even the little-used luxury suites were full for the game.

"It was crazy coming out for warm-ups an hour before the game and the student section was already packed," Vucevic said.

Fontan was the only other player to score in double figures for the Trojans with 10 points.

UCLA forward Reeves Nelson scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Honeycutt added 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Bruins shot 57 percent in the first half but finished the game at 40 percent overall. USC (10-6, 2-1) shot 46 percent but made only eight of 16 free throws.

The game was vital to both teams following 1-1 starts in Pacific-10 Conference play last week. It might have bedn even more important for USC because it was the Trojans' third straight home game before the two Los Angeles schools head to Oregon this week for their first conference road trip.

The Bruins led at halftime 30-28 thanks to hot shooting. UCLA shot 57 percent from the field and limited USC to 41 percent. Nelson led the Bruins with 12 points and four rebounds in the half.

No other Bruin scored more than five points.

In continuing a tradition of the past few years, neither the UCLA band nor cheerleaders were allowed at the game. The USC band and song girls will not be allowed in the rematch at Pauley Pavilion.

This was originally done when the teams were drawing bigger crowds and looking for extra seats to sell more tickets for basketball games. Sunday night marked USC's first sellout of the season.

"This is the first time I've played here that the crowd was with us completely," Fontan said. "The difference was the students are back in school and really got behind us. It wasn't like that in our other games."
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UCLA/USC BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK: Bruins hope Smith can be a bigger presence on court

By Jon Gold Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Daily News
Posted: 01/09/2011 10:20:09 PM PST
Updated: 01/09/2011 11:23:40 PM PST



Someday, UCLA fans are going to get a full dose of Joshua Smith. If he can stay on the court, that is.

The UCLA freshman center fouled out for the second straight game in the Bruins' 63-52 loss to USC on Sunday at Galen Center and now has been called for 14 fouls in his past three games.

This, despite a coaching move by Ben Howland designed to keep Smith from picking up cheap fouls, with Smith no longer hedging screens at the top of the key but plugging them.

Howland made the call after the Bruins' 74-63 loss to conference-favorite Washington on Dec. 31. Smith picked up two early fouls and ultimately fouled out on a penalty at the top of the key.

"Bottom line is, he's so big," Howland said. "He gets going. And you have to give (Washington guard Isaiah) Thomas credit, he really sold some of his fouls. In the future, he'll be able to do it. This doesn't make it easier."

When Smith was in the game - he ultimately played 22 minutes, two more than his season average - he was one of the Bruins' primary options, hitting 4 of 6 shots for 66 percent, while the team made just 39.6 percent for the game, and just 7 of 27 field goals in the second half.

With Smith in, UCLA tried to feed the post often, and Smith had two key assists as the perimeter players found some room on the outside.

"Josh Smith is a big guy, you can't say that enough," said USC senior forward Alex Stepheson, who was a force on the glass, leading all players with 16 rebounds, to go with 13 points. "He's probably the biggest dude I've played against. Definitely the strongest."

With the Bruins struggling in transition defense in recent games, Howland said he would tinker with the team's offensive rebounding, keeping only two on the boards, and Stepheson capitalized.

Stepheson had 10 defensive rebounds to go along with six on the offensive glass, and he was particularly dominant in the second half as UCLA's energy dwindled.

"They have a very good front court with Stepheson and Nikola Vucevic," Howland said.

"(Vucevic is the) leading rebounder in the conference, led the team last year.

"Best teams at the end of the year, those teams are always killing their opponents night in, night out on the glass."

Five alive
UCLA junior point guard Jerime Anderson scored a season-high 11 points Sunday, playing extended minutes in relief of junior point guard Lazeric Jones, who is plagued by a ruptured tendon in the middle finger of his right hand. Jones had just two points against USC, on 0-for-7 shooting.

"I think it's more for him, just get over the hump mentally about it. He took four shots in the first six, seven minutes of the game, but only one of them was a good shot. When you're taking contested, bad shots, then you finally get the open ones you should be making, all of a sudden you're thinking about it instead of letting it come to you.

"But I thought Jerime came in and gave us a big lift in his absence."

Bring 'em out
USC announced a sellout crowd of 10,258 on Sunday night, the Trojans' biggest home crowd of the season by more than 4,000.

Trojans head coach Kevin O'Neill was appreciative of the support, even if some of it came from Bruins fans.

"We only had like 1700 against Texas, so we like a bigger crowd," O'Neill said. "Even if half the people are cheering for UCLA."
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USC wins fourth in a row against UCLA

By MICHAEL LEV
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Jan. 9, 2011
Updated: Jan. 10, 2011 12:29 a.m.

LOS ANGELES – After USC notched its fourth consecutive victory over city rival UCLA on Sunday night, Trojans coach Kevin O'Neill offered a dose of perspective.
"It won't go on forever," O'Neill said.

But USC is enjoying it while it lasts.

Playing at a fever pitch in front of a rare sellout crowd at Galen Center, the Trojans beat the Bruins, 63-52. USC's four-game winning streak in the series is its longest since back-to-back sweeps in the 2003 and '04 seasons.

O'Neill acknowledged afterward that "it's not just another game."

"I'm not sure any school in the country ever will have the basketball tradition UCLA has," O'Neill said. "They're the benchmark people measure themselves against.
"When you beat UCLA, you've beaten tradition."

Asked about the streak, UCLA coach Ben Howland said: "It bothers all of us."
The Trojans (10-6, 2-1 Pac-10) did not hide their joy in the final moments. With about 20 seconds left but the outcome decided, they began high-fiving one another on the court. After letting the shot clock run out, Nikola Vucevic (game-high 20 points) and others waved their arms to pump up the crowd.

"It means everything to us," said USC senior Alex Stepheson, who had 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. "Especially being from L.A., knowing what the rivalry is, it's huge. It's bragging rights. The whole city was watching.

"We really make it a big deal to win this game."

USC relied on muscle and hustle to overcome a two-point halftime deficit, bettering UCLA in points in the paint, off of turnovers and on second chances — the categories that usually win games.

"Our team played hard," O'Neill said. "The key for us is that we only turned it over 11 times. Then we finally got our feet on the ground and started defending the way we should."

After shooting 57.1 percent from the floor in the first half, the Bruins (9-6, 1-2) made only 25.9 percent in the second. Reeves Nelson led UCLA with 14 points but had only two after halftime.

USC began the second half with a 12-4 run and finished it with an 11-4 run. Both featured Stepheson put-backs, including a thunderous dunk to make it 58-50.
Stepheson played without a brace on his left hand for the first time since breaking it in the Nov. 13 opener vs. UC Irvine. Being able to grab rebounds with both hands clearly made a difference.

Meanwhile, UCLA starting point guard Lazeric Jones, playing for the first time with a splint on his injured right middle finger, missed all seven of his field goal attempts. He and backcourt mate Malcolm Lee combined to go 1 for 12.

Tyler Honeycutt, who came in averaging 14.6 points, had just 10 on 3-of-10 shooting. He also had seven turnovers against the swarming defense of Marcus Simmons, Jio Fontan and Donte Smith.

The biggest pest for USC was its littlest player, 5-foot-7 Maurice Jones, who had four steals. He and roommate Bryce Jones combined for 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
O'Neill said the freshmen fed off the crowd, which was USC's largest of the season. They weren't the only ones.

"It definitely helped picked us," Stepheson said. "This is the first time the crowd was huge like that in a while. That was really the sixth man for us."

NOTES

USC has won six of its past eight games, holding each of those opponents to 40 percent shooting or worse. The Bruins hit 39 percent, and just 26 percent in the second half. ..

Among those in attendance were USC president C.L. Max Nikias, former football coach John Robinson and current Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley. ...

New women's lacrosse coach Lindsey Munday and eight USC football players who are enrolling Monday were introduced during the first half. That group includes Mater Dei High quarterback Max Wittek. ..
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UCLA not happy with USC's in-your-face celebration
Published: Jan. 10, 2011
Updated: 9:47 a.m.
By SCOTT M. REID
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER


Los Angeles – It is an image UCLA center Joshua Smith and his Bruin teammates will carry with them for at least another month.

USC players standing at midcourt with 40 seconds left in the Trojans' 63-52 victory against UCLA on Sunday night at the Galen Center laughing, exchanging high fives, waving to a sold-out crowd.

"A slap in the face," Smith said.

"You already know you've won the game, there's no need to celebrate like that with 40 seconds left. Let the clock run out, go celebrate in the locker-room."

But the Trojans were in a hurry to celebrate a fourth consecutive victory against their cross-town rival and a night the Bruins won't soon forget.

"We'll remember this feeling," UCLA guard Jerime Anderson said. "To see them out there celebrating like that. They could have waited. It's like whatever to me."
"It (stinks) losing like that," said Bruin forward Reeves Nelson, who led UCLA 14 points. "You hope the game would come down to the last minute and to see them celebrating like that really hurts. Really they have every right to celebrate like that but we'll remember that and take that with us."

The Bruins headed back to Westwood Sunday night with plenty of baggage.

Leading 30-28 at halftime, UCLA began self-destructing early in the second half, a young and inexperienced once again unable to weather rough going.

"We start the second half with a charge (call)," Howland said. "And we didn't handle adversity well.

"Offensively, we didn't do a very good job in the second half. Our foul trouble hurt us again. We couldn't handle adversity in the second half when things went against us."

UCLA committed 17 turnovers, and the Trojans capitalized outscoring the Bruins off turnovers 20-4.

"Offensively, we just didn't execute," said Bruin guard Jerime Anderson, who scored 11 points.

But Smith, who fouled out, also took aim at the officiating.

"The refs, honestly, were terrible," Smith said. "They were giving me B.S. answers (when he asked about foul calls). They were telling me this, this, this.
"Hopefully, they can watch tape and correct themselves."

No video will be needed to remind the Bruins of a celebration and a night, a feeling they can't forget.

"It's depressing, sitting on the bench watching them celebrate," Smith said. "I hate that feeling."

"That's something we won't forget, them celebrating out there," UCLA forward Brendan Lane said. "We just have to take that feeling and use that the next time we play them. We won't forget this. We'll take this with us, take how it feels."
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The Fabulous Forum
The who, what, where, when,
why — and why not — of L.A. sports

UCLA basketball: Ben Howland admonishes Joshua Smith for comments about officiating
By Ben Bolch
The Los Angeles Times
January 11, 2011 3:28 pm


UCLA Coach Ben Howland said he admonished Joshua Smith for comments the freshman center made that were critical about the officiating after the Bruins' 63-52 loss to USC on Sunday, calling Smith's remarks "totally poor judgment."

After fouling out for a second consecutive game, Smith said "the refs were terrible. The one where I fell and [Nikola] Vucevic fell on me, the refs said, 'Well, I had to call it because you fell.' They're giving me [ridiculous] answers. They're telling me this, this and this. I mean, I'm a guy who will own up to it when I foul."

Howland reviewed tape of the game with Smith and said Tuesday there was only one call that could be questioned. Howland said Smith did not think another called foul where he made contact with Vucevic was warranted.

"He was like, 'I don't think I fouled him,' " Howland said. "Yeah, your arm is coming right down and you're hitting him. So he was still in denial after seeing it and seeing that he's fouling.

"So he's got to grow up and learn that that's uncalled for and inappropriate."

When he met with the media Tuesday, Smith apologized for his comments and for giving the middle finger to a USC fan who had yelled a personal remark about his family after the game.

"After the game, with emotions all over the place, it just kind of happened," Smith said. "My parents have taught me well, but he said something personal where I just let him know how I felt, especially after a game we lost.

"I do regret it. I'm a bigger person than that."



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