Spokane, WA - Nick Young had 22 points and seven rebounds as the Southern California Trojans crushed the Texas Longhorns, 87-68, in the second round of the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Daniel Hackett had 20 points and Taj Gibson added 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Trojans (25-11), who set a school record with their 25th win of the season.
'We're just playing great team ball right now,' said Young. 'It's something we need to do going down the stretch in the NCAA tournament. Hopefully we keep it up for the next game.'
Gabe Pruitt had 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds for USC, which will next face top-seeded North Carolina in the East regional semifinal next week.
'We're obviously real pleased with the way our guys played today,' said Trojans coach Tim Floyd. 'I thought Gabe Pruitt did a terrific job and we felt like he was the guy that dominated the ball and really relied on his penetration.'
Kevin Durant had a game-high 30 points with nine rebounds and A.J. Abrams added 20 points for the fourth-seeded Longhorns (25-10), who are now 29-28 in tournament play.
'Our basketball team did a lot of good things this year,' said Texas coach Rick Barnes. 'But it's always disappointing when you end the season on the note that we ended it today. But I think that Southern California played a great game.'
The game was tight early in the first until USC, holding a 9-7 lead, ripped off eight straight points and held a 17-7 lead after a layup by Pruitt less than five minutes in.
The Longhorns cut their deficit to four points after Abrams drained a jumper to make it a 17-13 game with 13:35 left in the half, but the Trojans responded with an 11-2 run, with seven points from Young, to take a 28-15 lead.
Texas closed the half on a 10-2 burst to close the gap and a three-pointer by Abrams in the final seconds made it a 34-27 game with USC holding the advantage going into the locker room.
The Longhorns got to within four points early in the second half, but the Trojans responded with a huge 19-3 run, with Young notching nine points, and took a 53-33 lead after Gibson drained two from the charity stripe with a bit less than six minutes in.
Texas got to within 13 points thanks to a slam from Durant with half the game remaining, but that was as close as the game got as USC kept Texas at arms length the remainder of the game en route to the victory.
Game Notes
Lodrick Stewart scored 10 points for the Trojans...This was the first time these teams met in over 20 years...USC has a 5-4 record all-time against Texas...The Trojans hit 46 percent of their shots and won the battle of the boards, 43-35...The Longhorns made 38 percent of their shots.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes
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