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Trojans show who is boss

USC nearly blows a 21-point lead but handles Kentucky's comeback 80-76.

By BRIAN LANDMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 23, 2001

PHILADELPHIA -- Southern California junior forward David Bluthenthal pledged before Thursday night's East Region semifinal against Kentucky that he wouldn't be afraid to fail.

[AP photos] Southern Cal's Robert Hutchinson shows everybody at the East Region which team is headed to the Elite Eight.

"We all gave something up yesterday, what we were going to do for the win, and I gave up getting down on myself when I miss a shot," he said. "I had been doing that and when I missed a shot, I'd stop taking them. Today, I missed a few shots but I just thought to myself, "Don't worry about it. You're going to make the next one.' "

Good advice. He did hit the next one. And the next one. And the next.

Bluthenthal hit three three-pointers over a three-minute span late in the game, then made 5 of 6 free throws to seal an 80-76 upset of the second-seeded Wildcats before 20,270 at the First Union Center, the largest crowd to see a college basketball game in Pennsylvania.

The sixth-seeded Trojans (24-9), who matched their season record for wins, advanced to the Elite Eight. The Trojans only other trip beyond the round of 16 came in 1954, but that's when the NCAA Tournament was limited to 24 teams.

In so doing, they also spoiled the much-anticipated region final between Duke and Kentucky, teams that played a game for the ages in this town in the East Region finale in 1992.

"We wanted to prove everybody wrong, including you guys and all of the millions of viewers at home," USC senior center Brian Scalabrine said. "We felt like we belong here and no matter what people say about us, we're going to keep going out there and keep playing hard and we're going to keep trying to win. USC is a great institution and we're proving to the basketball world we can compete with anybody."

Count the ninth-ranked Wildcats (24-10), who had won 14 of 16, among the converted.

USC stunned them in the opening minutes, hitting 12 of 17 shots, including a pair of threes by Bluthenthal, to take a 31-10 lead with 10:18 left in the half.

Remember folks. The Wildcats led the SEC in field-goal percentage defense (40.1) and only three teams (Florida, Alabama and Indiana) managed to shoot better than 50 percent. USC was the fourth, finishing at 52.8 percent.

"We dug ourselves a big hole because of our defense," Kentucky senior point guard Saul Smith said.

Although the Wildcats saw a 19-point halftime deficit increase to 45-24 on the opening possession of the second half, they mounted an improbable comeback behind freshman forward Jason Parker and sophomore guard Keith Bogans, who had to pick up the slack for an uncharacteristically ineffective Tayshaun Prince (six points, 2-for-8 shooting).

Parker had a career-best 22 points, and Bogans had 21 of his team-best 23 points after intermission. In fact, a Bogans three-pointer brought Kentucky to within 61-60 with 8:07 left. But USC didn't panic and showed the grit it gained through tough losses in the Pac-10.

"What has been important for us is we play in a very, very good conference," coach Henry Bibby said, referring to fellow Sweet 16 teams, Stanford, Arizona and UCLA. "We're playing top teams every other night in our conference and this game was a continuation of us playing top teams in the country."

It didn't hurt that Bluthenthal shook off a few bad misfires from three-point range and swished back-to-back threes from the left wing. He finished with a game-best 27.

"That was very big," Bogans said of Bluthenthal's threes. "I thought we were right there, we were back in the game, and he made some big shots tonight. He's a big-time basketball player. Before the game, coach told us that was probably the best player they had on their team and I think he really came out and showed that tonight."

NCAA East

USC 80, Kentucky 76

Duke 76, UCLA 63

NCAA West

Maryland 76, Georgetown 66

Stanford 78 vs. Cincinnati 65

NCAA South

Michigan St. vs. Gonzaga, 7:38 p.m.

Temple vs. Penn State, 10:08 p.m.

NCAA Midwest

Arizona vs. Mississippi, 7:55 p.m.

Illinois vs. Kansas, 10:25 p.m.

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