Southern Cali Sports

This was a tough loss for the Trojans of USC but it was a loss that needed to take place.

The Trojans lost last night because they lacked the experience that can only be attained through tremendous adversity brought only by the NCAA tournamnet itself.

North Carolina and Coach Roy Hill had it. The Tar Heels took everything the Trojans had to offer for the 1st 28 minutes of the game and never lost their cool. This was like the rope-a-dope of college basketball. NC just sat back and took USC’s best puches only to fire back when it saw the first sign of fatigue by USC. They stuck to their game plan and appeared confident that if they kept executing it eventually the ball would bounce their way.

And it did when USC Freshmen (who was having a tremendous game up to that point) picked up his 4th foul with over 12 minutes to go in the game. USC was never the same…

That was pretty much the end of the game for the USC Trojans as the Tar Heels went on an 18-0 run and never looked back. With Gibson out of the game, USC looked lost, tired and befuddled.

USC’s lack of a bench really hurt them in this game. Their lack of another big man was really evident when Gibson was forced to sit down.

A lot of people are talking about Tim Floyd losing his cool and picking up a technical foul when Taj Gibson fouled out. Maybe it’s because he knew the game was over at that point?

Gibson was a key component in the shutting down of Tar Heel All-American Forward Tyler Hansbrough. Gibson was just too quick and long for Hansbrough. And flat out Gibson was just a dominant presence in the middle. He changed the way the Tar Heels attacked the basket and that gave USC a huge advantage.

Without Gibson, the Trojans had a big hole in the middle and the Tar heels exploited it. They did what an experienced, championship caliber team does.

This was a tough loss for USC but this is an experience that’ll make them a much better team next year.