Underclassmen under glass
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Tim Floyd noted one striking similarity among the teams USC faced in the NCAA tournament last season: Their star players were mostly freshmen and sophomores.
Of course, there was another parallel among Arkansas, Texas and North Carolina: None made it to the Final Four.
But youth will be king regardless of the outcome Thursday evening when sixth-seeded USC plays 11th-seeded Kansas State in a Midwest Regional first-round game in Omaha.
The Wildcats’ three leading scorers are freshmen, and yet they might be considered the more veteran team because they feature two senior starters.
The Trojans’ starting lineup includes two freshmen and three sophomores, and underclassmen have accounted for 95.7% of USC’s scoring, the highest percentage among Division I teams. For all their talent, freshmen O.J. Mayo and Davon Jefferson haven’t scored one point in the postseason.
“The NCAA tournament is something new for a lot of us younger guys,” Mayo said.
Not every Trojan is a tournament tenderfoot, however. USC has three key players -- sophomores Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis -- from last year’s Sweet 16 run. The returners say they know what it takes to succeed on college basketball’s biggest stage.
“We can teach something to the younger guys to let them know what’s at stake and how you have to prepare and come ready,” Hackett said.
Such as?
“Just take it one game at a time and be patient and every possession counts,” he said. “That’s going to be key.”
Kansas State hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament in 12 years. Even though the Wildcats feature singular talents in freshmen Michael Beasley and Bill Walker, Coach Frank Martin acknowledged that his team could be susceptible to big-game jitters.
“Our youth is our biggest strength because it makes us fearless, and it’s our biggest weakness because it’s the first time we’ve experienced anything,” said Martin, a former assistant under Bob Huggins who took over the program last year after Huggins departed for West Virginia.
“We’re so young that the whole stage kind of gets our guys a little nervous. When you’re older you tend to handle things a little better.”
Gibson said his teammates have all the experience they need after an 18-game slog through Pacific 10 Conference play and two more games in the conference tournament.
“No one’s freshmen and sophomores anymore,” Gibson said. “These guys are getting ready to be sophomores and juniors. Guys are grown, and we’re not your average young team. It shouldn’t affect us come late March.”
USC Coach Tim Floyd said it seemed as if his team had been playing in big games for the last two months after opening Pac-10 play with three consecutive losses. The Trojans responded by winning 12 of their last 17 games, including victories over UCLA and Stanford.
No opponent should intimidate USC considering the Trojans have already played three top-seeded NCAA tournament teams (UCLA, Memphis and Kansas) and one third-seeded team (Stanford).
“For a young team to go into some of the buildings we’ve been in and play and have 96% of our scoring from freshmen and sophomores is a tribute to their talent,” Floyd said. “They have great talent and they have great heart and have been a very good defensive team all year.”
Kansas State has played a difficult schedule as well, with games against Kansas, Notre Dame, Texas and Oklahoma. The Wildcats split two games with the Jayhawks, beat the Sooners and lost to the Fighting Irish and the Longhorns.
“They’re a talented team that probably should have gotten a higher seed,” Gibson said. “Not many teams can say they beat Kansas.”
Mayo repeated his contention that USC is a national-title contender despite its inexperience and the fact that it finished tied for third in the Pac-10 before losing in a conference tournament semifinal.
“We feel like we were in there with three of the top teams in the country in Memphis, Kansas and we beat UCLA at UCLA,” Mayo said. “From that standpoint we feel like we can play with anyone and we’re just going to continue to get better.”
Martin pondered his team’s matchup with USC and said he noticed several similarities. Each team has six freshmen, and the Wildcats have eight first-year players.
“They’re led by two freshmen just like we’re led by two freshmen,” Martin said. “We’ve got two senior guards and that’s kind of where our upperclassmen stop. Everyone else is either a first-year guy or a sophomore who didn’t play last year as a freshman.
“Everything is going to be a first for all our guys.”
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First look
* How they advanced: USC was a lock for the field of 65 before defeating Arizona State in a Pacific 10 Conference tournament quarterfinal game and then losing to UCLA in a semifinal. Kansas State sneaked into the tournament as an at-large entry after losing to Texas A&M; in a Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinal.
* Common opponents: USC lost to Kansas, 59-55, on Dec. 2 at the Galen Center. Kansas State defeated Kansas, 84-75, on Jan. 30 in Manhattan, Kan., and lost to the Jayhawks, 88-74, on March 1 in Lawrence, Kan. USC swept Oregon, winning, 95-86, in overtime on Jan. 26 in Eugene, Ore., and 81-75 on Feb. 21 at the Galen Center. Kansas State lost to the Ducks, 80-77, in overtime on Nov. 29 in Eugene. USC defeated Oklahoma, 66-55, on Nov. 29 at the Galen Center. Kansas State defeated the Sooners, 84-82, on Jan. 12 in Norman, Okla. USC split its meetings with California -- losing, 92-82, on Jan. 3 in Berkeley and winning, 93-89, in overtime on March 6 at the Galen Center. Kansas State defeated the Golden Bears, 82-75, on Dec. 9 in Manhattan.
* When USC has the ball: The Trojans probably will try to run their offense through sophomore forward Taj Gibson, who has the option of taking the ball to the basket or finding a teammate for an open look. Freshman guard O.J. Mayo is a take-over-the-game talent who can spot up for three-pointers or slash to the basket, and freshman forward Davon Jefferson provides USC with another athletic interior presence besides Gibson.
* When Kansas State has the ball: No mystery here. Freshman forward Michael Beasley has been the Wildcats’ leading scorer in all but six games, averaging 26.5 points, and will be the focal point of an offense that averages 78.7 points. Fellow freshman Bill Walker is an explosive forward who is especially dangerous around the basket.
* What to expect: USC has the edge in experience with three key players back from a Sweet 16 team. Kansas State is making its first NCAA tournament appearance in 12 years. Trojans Coach Tim Floyd and assistant Phil Johnson will surely formulate a special defensive plan -- triangle and two, anyone? -- for Beasley and Walker. USC should pull away in the second half.
* Stat factor: Both teams rely heavily on freshmen and sophomores -- 95.7% of the Trojans’ scoring and 82.6% of the Wildcats’ scoring comes from underclassmen.
-- Ben Bolch
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HOW THEY COMPARE
How Kansas State, USC compare:
*--* KANSAS ST. -- USC 78.7 POINTS 69.1 443 FIELD-GOAL PCT. 481 689 FREE-THROW PCT. 685 321 THREE-POINT PCT. 384 41.4 REBOUNDS 33.7 *--*
*--* KANSAS ST. P HT CL Pts Reb Ast Michael Beasley F 6-10 Fr 26.5 12.4 1.2 Bill Walker F 6-6 Fr 15.8 6.4 2.0 Jacob Pullen G 6-1 Fr 9.8 1.4 3.2 Clent Stewart G 6-5 Sr 7.0 3.1 3.2 Blake Young G 6-2 Sr 6.1 3.5 1.9 Fred Brown G 6-3 Fr 4.2 1.3 0.7 Andre Gilbert F 6-7 Jr 4.2 2.6 1.7 Dominique Sutton F 6-4 Fr 3.2 2.5 0.6 Ron Anderson f 6-8 Fr 3.1 3.5 0.5 Darren Kent F 6-10 Jr 2.5 2.4 1.3 Luis Colon F 6-10 So 1.2 1.1 0.2 James Franklin G 6-0 Sr 0.6 0.7 0.6 Chris Merriewether G 6-4 So 0.6 0.9 0.8 *--*
*--* USC P HT CL Pts Reb Ast O.J. Mayo G 6-5 Fr 20.8 4.6 3.3 Davon Jefferson F 6-8 Fr 12.0 6.3 0.8 Dwight Lewis G 6-5 So 10.9 2.4 1.4 Taj Gibson F 6-9 So 10.8 7.8 1.3 Daniel Hackett G 6-5 So 8.5 3.7 3.3 Angelo Johnson G 5-11 Fr 4.5 1.8 2.1 Kasey Cunningham F 6-7 Fr 2.7 2.6 0.2 Keith Wilkinson F 6-10 Jr 2.5 2.8 0.4 Terence Green G 5-11 Jr 1.0 0.0 0.0 RouSean Cromwell F 6-11 Jr 0.7 1.0 0.0 Mamadou Diarra F 7-0 Fr 0.7 0.3 0.0 Marcus Simmons G 6-6 Fr 0.6 1.6 0.4 Ryan Wetherell G 5-11 So 0.3 0.4 0.4 Kyle Austin F 6-7 So 0.0 0.0 0.0 *--*
