LOS ANGELES – Losers in five of their last six, in danger of a disastrous collapse with only a pair of regular-season games remaining, a once-resurgent USC basketball team found itself in desperate need of a break.
Weeks had gone by without one. The Trojans’ high-powered offense, once a blisteringly efficient unit, was failing them. They’d lost three straight games by an average of 17 points. Their defense was in disarray. And as a shorthanded Oregon State squad took the ball up the court on Wednesday, and Gary Payton II buried a game-opening 3, USC’s late-season hard luck sure looked ready to snowball.