Trojans’ NCAA Footing Gets Firmer With Each Step

Rodrick Rhodes sat at his locker and slipped on a T-shirt that said more about Saturday night’s game against Oregon State than anything that took place on the court.

“One step at a time,” Rhodes said when asked what was written on the back of the shirt. “And this was step two.”

USC did indeed take one more step toward a possible NCAA tournament bid, defeating Oregon State, 83-62, before 4,431 at the Sports Arena and accomplishing half of its goal of winning its final four games.

It also opened the door for speculation as to whether USC needs to sweep two games in Washington next week to curry enough favor from the selection committee.

“I’m new at all this, I don’t know what it takes,” said senior Stais Boseman, who in his final home game scored a game-high 22. “Some say [we have to win] our final four, some say three. I guess it’s a coin flip.”

More guesses.

USC (16-9, 11-5) is second in the Pacific 10 Conference, a half-game ahead of Arizona and a game up on California and Stanford, but has been told it is a longer shot than the rest to make the tournament.

“It seems like we are the only team on the bubble all the time,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “We’ve had some big wins but we are still considered a bubble team.

“Stanford and Arizona are below us and some say those teams are a lock [to get a bid]. I just don’t understand the logic there.”

It stood to reason that the Trojans could not lose to Oregon State (7-19, 3-14), and after a sluggish beginning made sure that didn’t happen.

The first 20 minutes looked like an NBA All-Star game, with Corey Benjamin and the Beavers shooting everything they touched on one end, and USC doing the same at the other.

“Everybody was just jacking it up in the first half,” said Rhodes, who finished with 11 assists.

The best thing either team could say about the first half was that it ended. The teams had a combined 27 turnovers, Oregon State shot 36% and although the Trojans shot better at 41.9% and led, 32-27, they were three for 13 from three-point range, Boseman one for six.

Said Bibby: “We were really selfish. It was one pass and shoot. But in the second half we picked it up defensively, got some easy baskets.”

Rhodes took only one shot in the second half, but had eight of his assists, a number to Jaha Wilson, who scored 21, and helped dominated inside with Jarvis Turner (12 points).

USC began to pull away with 9:13 left when Boseman’s three-point basket gave the Trojans a 53-43 lead. Wilson and Turner were either fouled or scored on four of USC’s next five possessions, putting the lead at 64-47 with seven minutes left.

Boseman played equally as well on defense as on offense. Benjamin, who had averaged 24.7 points over the last three games, scored only 11 to lead Oregon State, which suffered its worst loss to USC since the 1970-71 season (110-75). The Beavers had 24 turnovers.

“We had more turnovers than I can remember that were going to be baskets,” Oregon State Coach Eddie Payne said. “We’re not a confident team to begin with.”

The Trojans, however, are. And for USC’s seniors, it meant a final home victory.

“This was a great ending for Stais, Jaha and David Crouse,” Bibby said.

“Two years ago we lost our last 14 and last year we lost our last nine. This year is totally different.”