UNC Wilmington upsets USC in OT

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Posted 6:27AM on Friday, March 15, 2002

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - ``Dream big. Focus small'' is North Carolina Wilmington's slogan this season. The 13th-seeded Seahawks did just that against Southern California, stunning the fourth-seeded Trojans 93-89 in overtime Thursday night in a first-round South Regional game. ``Everybody doubts us except ourselves,'' said UNCW's Brett Blizzard, who scored 18 points. ``We didn't come here with our cameras like we did two years ago. We came with the right attitude. We didn't just talk about it, we did it.'' The Trojans rallied from a 19-point deficit to force overtime, getting a 3-pointer from freshman Errick Craven with 8 seconds remaining to tie it at 80. ``When that ball went in to tie the game up, you have to ask yourself, `How bad do you want it?' `` UNCW coach Jerry Wainwright said. ``At a very deflating moment, they pulled together. They played great in overtime.'' In the 5-minute extra session, the Seahawks steadied themselves and outscored the Trojans 13-9 to earn their first NCAA tournament victory. UNCW lost to Cincinnati two years ago in its only other appearance. ``This goes back to how strong our will is,'' Blizzard said. ``Every team is going to make a run. You have to fight it off and come back with one of your own.'' Last year, USC (22-10) reached the final eight for the first time since 1954, and lost to eventual national champion Duke. Expectations were higher this year for a Final Four run. ``We were a good team, but probably not as good as everyone thought,'' USC coach Henry Bibby said. ``I didn't think we executed when we needed to during the season. We covered up a lot of things with our defense. The press carried us all year and we tricked a lot of people.'' It was a bitter ending for USC seniors Sam Clancy, Brandon Granville and David Bluthenthal, who were key components of last year's tournament run. All three fouled out in overtime. ``I feel bad for the fans,'' Clancy said. ``I know they had high expectations for us to do well in the tournament.'' After dazzling USC with 52 percent shooting in the first half, UNCW, a 10,599-student school from Michael Jordan's hometown of Wilmington, N.C., made just one field goal in the final 9 1/2 minutes of regulation. But the Trojans were stymied offensively in overtime. Clancy, who scored 21 points, missed three tries on USC's first possession, then Craven missed a layup. The Trojans shot 43 percent for the game. ``I felt like we had momentum coming into overtime,'' Granville said. ``We missed easy buckets and free throws in overtime that could've maintained the momentum and put us over the top. We didn't make the plays down the stretch.'' Blizzard got UNCW going with a three-point play for an 83-80 lead. Craven tied it with a three-point play, but Clancy missed and then a rebound slipped out of Jerry Dupree's hands. Blizzard saw the frustration in the eyes of USC's players. ``I knew we had them on the ropes,'' he said. UNCW's Stewart Hare scored four points, including an emphatic dunk, in the final 45 seconds of overtime. ``Everybody had confidence and made the right plays,'' Blizzard said. Desmon Farmer drew USC to 91-89 on a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in overtime, but Blizzard got fouled and made both free throws to end it. Farmer finished with 20 points, and Bluthenthal added 19. The Seahawks (23-9), whose victories are a school record, knocked down uncontested shots from all over the court. Craig Callahan scored 18 points before fouling out in regulation. ``It seemed like there was a point in the game where everyone was hitting shots,'' Clancy said. UNCW came in holding opponents to 40 percent field-goal shooting. The Seahawks, who've won five in a row and 11 of their last 13, got off to dominating starts in both halves, and left USC scrambling. The Trojans hit just 35 percent in the first half, when they trailed by nine. Four minutes into the second half, USC trailed by 19 - its largest deficit of the game. USC earned its highest seeding this year, a reward for finishing tied for second in the Pac-10 Conference and for reaching the conference tournament final, where it lost to Arizona. But the smothering defense the Trojans played so effectively against Arizona was nowhere to be seen Thursday. ``It was our fourth game in seven days,'' Bibby said. ``It took us a while to get into the game. The Pac-10 tourney took an edge off of us.'' It was USC's sixth first-round tournament exit and first since 1997, when the Trojans lost to Illinois 90-77.