| Ryan Anderson Named to Pac-10 All-Tournament Team
LOS ANGELES - Tim Floyd slammed his hand on the court three times during a timeout after Stanford scored an easy layup to move ahead by double digits midway through the second half. His face turned bright red as he shouted at the defender.
Gabe Pruitt skipped toward the sidelines waving his arms to get the crowd going as USC made its late run to get back in the game.
Nick Young then pumped his fist and Lodrick Stewart clapped his hands over his head as the Trojans brought the ball up the court in overtime, for the first time knowing a victory was at hand.
All week, USC players and coaches had scoffed at the doubts that they needed a victory in the Pac-10 tournament to ensure a berth in the NCAA tournament.
But, with the game slipping away Thursday, their actions and expressions said otherwise.
Young sank a long jumper in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime, and the Trojans ran away from Stanford in the extra session for a 83-79 win at Staples Center.
"For the first time, I can relax and know we're in the tournament," Young said.
Last season, we were fighting for the NIT and lost some big games down the stretch. Now we feel comfortable that we're in the NCAAs."
Despite six victories over ranked teams, there was some question as to how safe the Trojans (22-10) would be on Selection Sunday if they entered with three consecutive losses and an even split of their final 10 games.
Now it's Stanford (18-12) that will have to sweat it out Sunday.
Young, who scored a game-high 26 points, thought of his NBA idol when called upon by Floyd to take USC's biggest shot of the season.
"When we came to the front of Staples Center, I saw (Kobe Bryant's) picture and was thinking about all the big plays he's made, like his shot against the Phoenix Suns in last year's playoffs," Young said.
"That was an inspiration to me."
Young's basket with 10 seconds remaining tied the score at 69-69 but left enough time for Stanford to try a final shot.
Anthony Goods got by Gabe Pruitt and thought he had a good look at the basket, but Taj Gibson swatted the ball away.
It went out to Lawrence Hill, who missed a desperation shot at the buzzer.
"I knew to watch Goods coming down because he's their best shooter," Gibson said. "When Gabe gave me that look saying help, I just jumped up and got a big block."
Gibson got his fourth foul with more than 14 minutes left, but kept up his intensity on defense and didn't foul out.
USC trailed 54-44 before going on a 19-5 run led by Pruitt, who hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Young to tie the game at 59.
Young said he never had seen Pruitt so serious as he was in the second half.
"It clicked in my head," Pruitt said. "This could be it. I didn't want this to be my last game. You never know with Selection Sunday."
Senior Lodrick Stewart, who had just two points in regulation, faked a 3-pointer and drove to the basket for a layup with less than a minute to go in overtime to put USC ahead 76-73.
"We've never won a (Pac-10 tournament) game since I've been here, so it's very emotional for the upperclassmen and the underclassmen," Young said.
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