Trojans are one and done

A season that O.J. Mayo long said could realistically end in a national title for USC instead unraveled short of the NCAA tournament's second round Thursday night at the Qwest Center.

The sixth-seeded Trojans were outhustled, outrebounded and outplayed for most of an 80-67 defeat against 11th-seeded Kansas State in a Midwest Regional first-round game that could have marked the final collegiate appearance for Mayo, the freshman guard whose singular brilliance this season often failed to lift a thin and inexperienced team.

"I'm mad," said Mayo, who actually cracked a few smiles in the locker room afterward. "We lost a first-round game in the NCAA tournament. That's not the way I wanted to end my freshman year."

Mayo's performance was emblematic of much of his season: 20 points on six-for-16 shooting, with his final shot a meaningless three-quarter-court heave at the final buzzer that was off the mark.

"I wanted to try to win all the way until it said three zeros," Mayo said, referring to the game clock.

Kansas State won in part because it had two fabulous freshmen instead of only one.

The Wildcats received a big first-half scoring outburst from Bill Walker and a second-half splurge from Michael Beasley, who finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds after playing only 11 minutes before intermission because of foul trouble.

Kansas State outrebounded the Trojans, 44-27, on the way to its first NCAA tournament victory since 1988. The Wildcats (21-11) will play third-seeded Wisconsin (30-4) on Saturday in the second round.

"We wanted to get every loose ball, dominate the boards," said Walker, Mayo's childhood friend who scored 22 points on seven-for-12 shooting. "When you do that, you control the game."

Kansas State appeared on the way to a comfortable victory when it took a 10-point lead during a first half in which Walker scored 17 points on an assortment of three-pointers, reverse layups and pull-up jumpers, showing that he was completely healed from the torn knee ligament that limited him to six games last season.

Whenever the Wildcats missed a shot in the early going, they were almost always there to grab the ball. They had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half, one more than USC's rebounding total.

"You don't have to go too far beyond that," Floyd said.