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		<description>RUWT? News for USC vs. Boston College 3/20/2009</description>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:47:03 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[Gibson's perfect shooting sends USC past BC]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- In Southern California, good looks mean a 
lot.

Well, Taj Gibson was a perfect 10 for the Trojans, and way out 
of Boston College's league.

Gibson had 24 points on 10-for-10 shooting from the field, 
sending the 10th-seeded Trojans to a 72-55 victory over Boston 
College in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night.

Adding six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, Gibson 
epitomized USC's fast-breaking, take-it-to-the-hoop, athletic 
style.

"Just helping my team any way I can, and trying not to pick up 
that fifth foul," he said. "I knew the offense was going to 
come."

Dwight Lewis scored 20 points and shut down star Eagles guard 
Tyrese Rice, and DeMar DeRozan added 18 points and nine 
rebounds. USC (22-12), which went 1-6 in February, maintained 
the momentum from last week's Pac-10 tournament title and 
advanced to Sunday's second round against second seed Michigan 
State.

For Gibson, this was the ultimate team effort. That's an 
attribute that seemed to have been missing at times last season,
when O.J. Mayo was getting most of the attention in his only 
season with the Trojans before leaving for the NBA.

"We understand that it takes us, as a family, to win games," 
Gibson said.

His perfect shooting was the second-best performance in NCAA 
tournament history with a minimum 10 attempts, behind Kenny 
Walker's 11-for-11 for Kentucky 1986. Gibson matched Marvin 
Barnes of Providence and Christian Laettner of Duke, who were 
10-for-10 in 1973 and 1992, respectively.

"That's just the type of player Taj is. He's the heart of this 
team," said sixth-man Leonard Washington.

Corey Raji led No. 7 seed Boston College (22-12) with 15 points.
The Eagles made only one field goal in a dreadful stretch of 
nearly 13 minutes that ultimately sent them back to Beantown.

"Obviously we didn't execute as well as we needed to," coach Al 
Skinner said. "We were impatient at times."

All BC's misses made it easier for the Trojans to start their 
transition game and speed to the other end. Rice went 1-for-6 
from 3-point range and finished with nine points, and USC 
improved to 13-0 this season when holding an opponent under 60.

"It's going to be real tough losing such a good teammate and a 
great leader," Raji said. "I wish him the best of success in the
future."

Buried in a power-packed, sports-crazy market beneath all those 
trophies accumulated this decade by the Celtics, Patriots and 
Red Sox, Boston College again arrived at the tournament without 
much buzz. Now in the tradition-cloaked Atlantic Coast 
Conference, it's even harder for the Eagles to distinguish 
themselves. Coming off a 14-17 season, they were picked to 
finish 11th out of 12 in the ACC last fall.

"Of course I wanted to do more, but overall it was a pretty good
year," Rice said. "I can't really complain. I definitely wanted 
to make more of a run in the tournament, but that's how it is 
sometimes. That's how it was my sophomore and my freshman year."

USC is long and lean, and the relentless leaping for rebounds, 
tips, dunks and blocks began to pay dividends down the stretch. 
Reggie Jackson's 3-pointer put BC up 44-41, but then the Trojans
started their push.

Daniel Hackett swatted away a shot and zinged a pass up court to
Gibson for a dunk to finish an 11-0 run. Later, after two misses
by USC, DeRozan rose above the paint and tipped in the third try
for a 56-47 lead.

Gibson tossed in a too-easy turnaround in the lane soon after, 
giving him the perfect 10.

"Our big men were in foul trouble so they were a little bit 
cautious about fouling Gibson, but he's a tough player, a great 
player," Raji said. "Unfortunately we just didn't have the 
bodies up there to stop him."

Last year, Mayo and the Trojans were a No. 6 seed, but Michael 
Beasley and Kansas State knocked them out in the first game. 
This time, there's been more balance and stronger camaraderie 
led by the junior core of Gibson, Lewis and Hackett, the Italian
stallion point guard who played all 120 minutes in the Pac-10 
tournament and all 40 minutes in this game.

DeRozan is the new fabulous freshman, and he has made a strong 
impression on his teammates.

"He asks for guidance sometimes. That's amazing," Gibson said, 
adding: "He's a team player. That's what we needed this year, 
and it's been working out for us."

Gibson, the glue, exerted himself throughout this game.

He blocked a shot underneath toward the end of the first half, 
and Washington followed with a strong inside move and a basket 
on the other end. After an Eagles miss, Gibson attacked the 
glass, drew a foul during his layup for a three-point play and 
landed with a scowl framing his full beard and shaved scalp.

The Trojans completed a 9-0 run on their next possession with a 
fastbreak basket by DeRozan and went up 27-23. For the first 
three-quarters of the game, the Eagles responded to every charge
by the Trojans. They led 34-30 at the half, which didn't make 
USC coach Tim Floyd happy. He used the Kansas State loss to get 
them going.

"I liked the maturity in the locker room after it was over," 
Floyd said. "They understand that it is a tournament. It's not a
one-game series, winner take all."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92171-Gibsons-perfect-shooting-sends-USC-past-BC</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92171-Gibsons-perfect-shooting-sends-USC-past-BC</guid>
				<pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2009 05:17:58 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
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				<title><![CDATA[USC puts DeRozan on display against BC]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By Dave Campbell
AP Sports Writer

(10) USC (21-12) vs. (7) Boston College (22-11), 7:20 p.m. EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- DeMar DeRozan, the latest fab freshman to be
featured by Southern California, approached Trojans coach Tim 
Floyd at his first college practice and earnestly asked for 
patience.

The sleek, 6-foot-7 kid from Compton came with plenty of talent 
and potential. The lessons learned in high school, he 
acknowledged, didn't include much on playing defense or setting 
screens and such in the half court.

DeRozan, whose late surge helped USC win the Pac-10 tournament 
and draw a No. 10 seed in the Midwest region, brought the right 
attitude, though.

"He came in without ego, and just as a listener," Floyd said, as
the Trojans (21-12) prepared to play seventh seed Boston College
in the first round Friday night at the Metrodome. "He's just 
gotten better and better."

DeRozan averaged 15 points over USC's last 24 games, including a
series of head-turning performances during the Pac-10 tourney in
Los Angeles that quickly placed the Trojans on the experts' list
of low-seeded teams to watch in this year's NCAA tournament. 
Against Cal, he had 17 points and 11 rebounds. In a 10-point 
victory over UCLA, DeRozan put up 21 points and 13 rebounds. 
Then in the final against Arizona State, he scored a career-high
25.

"Just brings a lot of effort. Real strong leader," teammate Taj 
Gibson said. "You don't see that much in a lot of freshman, but 
he stepped up to the plate. As you can see in the Pac-10 
tournament, he made key plays late in the championship game. And
his development? There's more to come."

Last year, O.J. Mayo hogged the headlines while averaging more 
than 20 points per game in his one and only season with the 
Trojans, who lost in the first round of the NCAA tourney to 
Kansas State. This time, with a maturing junior core consisting 
of Gibson, Dwight Lewis and Daniel Hackett, USC might be more 
balanced.

If they can get by BC (22-11), No. 2 seed Michigan State will 
likely await.

"I think a lot of people is betting on us," DeRozan said, "but 
we really aren't going to pay no mind to it. We just try to go 
out there and put in work and ... give a great game."

The Trojans sure weren't a lock to get in until they secured the
automatic bid. They went 1-6 in February to fall to 7-9 in the 
Pac-10, before regrouping and beating Oregon and Oregon State in
their final two regular season games. Health was a problem, 
though. They had the entire team available for only five 
contests this season. Notably, Lewis missed two games to a 
sprained ankle in February, sixth-man Marcus Johnson sat out 
seven times with a strained rotator cuff, and forward Leonard 
Johnson was absent from four conference games because of a 
sprained ankle.

"I wasn't worried at all," Lewis said. "We had a lot of injuries
this season. We're getting healthy at the right time, and 
hopefully we're able to put it together and make a great run. 
We're just trying to ride this run as far as we can."

After missing the tournament altogether last season, the Eagles 
have returned to the field for the seventh time in the last nine
years. Floyd called counterpart Al Skinner "the best coach that 
nobody ever talks about."

Skinner, well, didn't have a whole lot to say, either, 
preferring not to delve too deeply into the subject of respect.

"It's not something we focus in on," he said, adding: "I'm not 
going to allow any of that to influence us. If we did, we would 
have ended up in 11th place in the ACC."

They nearly beat Duke for a second time this season, falling 
66-65 in the ACC tournament quarterfinals last weekend after an 
80-74 win at home in February. The Eagles also defeated North 
Carolina and Maryland at home, but suffered a stunning loss on 
that same court in Chestnut Hill to Harvard.

So it's no surprise, especially to the Eagles, that there isn't 
much buzz around the country about them right now.

"That's nothing new when it comes to us," star guard Tyrese Rice
said. "I mean, even my freshman year we were the No. 10 team in 
the country and still didn't get any respect. So it doesn't mean
anything to me."

That year, Boston College advanced to the regional semifinals 
and lost to Villanova -- here at the Metrodome, actually. This 
time, there's nothing saying that can't happen again.

"Once you get into the tournament, anything can happen," Rice 
said. "And whoever gets hot at the right time at the right point
of the game can just roll on you. So it's basically whoever gets
hot."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92077-USC-puts-DeRozan-on-display-against-BC</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92077-USC-puts-DeRozan-on-display-against-BC</guid>
				<pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:52:57 GMT</pubDate>
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