USC scrambles but loses to UCLA.

Men's hoops eventually falls, 82-75.

Feb. 18, 1998

Los Angeles- USC rallied from a 13-point deficit only to miss a last-second shot in regulation and then lose in overtime 82-75 to rival UCLA in front of 7,167 exhausted fans at the L.A. Sports Arena.

On the last play of regulation, Trojan guard Kevin Augustine penetrated the lane but was knocked off his dribble without a foul call. The loose ball was gathered up by SC's Adam Spanich, who fired a heart-stopping three-pointer from the right wing with :02 left. It gently rimmed out and the game went to O.T. tied at 70.

In the extra period, Bruin (20-5 10-4) J.R. Henderson scored 7 of his team's 12 points. The likely NBA lottery pick played all but one minute and totaled a game high 20 and 9 rebounds.

Against UCLA's highly touted guards, Gary Johnson led the Men of Troy (7-17 3-11) with 19 points and freshman Kevin Augstine added 12.

Most notably, SC outrebounded UCLA 37-33 thanks to the work of sophomore forward Jarvis Turner, who posted 17 points and 8 rebounds, and Anthony White, who grabbed 8 boards and scored 12.

After taking the weekend off, the Trojans travel to the state of Washington next week.

Quotes:

USC Coach Henry Bibby-
"This is a tough loss. We had the last two shots at the basket (in regulation). You can't get better shots from Kevin, who can finish inside, and from Adam, who can hit those shots. That's the hard part. You can win a game on that. Everybody played well. I'm super proud.

We made the effort to get the ball inside. We wanted to go at Henderson and Johnson and Reed because we knew they didn't have McCoy, who is a shot blocker. It's tough when you come up short. We did what we needed to do to be in this game."

UCLA Coach Steve Lavin-
"I thought USC played tremendously well. We were fortunate to pull one out in over time. I thought Coach Bibby did a great job of giving his team a chance to win."

USC Guard Kevin Augstine-
(On the last play of regulation) "It was all we could ask for. I got by Watson in the lane. I feel I was fouled. They're not gonna call it late in the game like that."

Notes: Three of USC's last six games have gone into overtime, winning one.

Bibby started a sophomomore (Turner) and three freshmen (Augustine, Lakey and Trepagnier) for the fourth straight game.

Branford Marsalis performed a spine tingling version of the national anthem on the clarinet.