USC's basketball team is beef-jerky tough, something for Boston College to chew on.
Those inside the Trojans' locker room are certain about that after facing "win-or-go-home" situations the last week, freshman forward DeMar DeRozan said. They found ways to win the Pacific 10 Conference tournament and now go to Minneapolis to face the Eagles in the NCAA tournament.
The starting point for that journey was two weeks ago during a film session before a game against Oregon, when assistant coach Phil Johnson had a harsh assessment of the team.
"He got up and told us we were not a tough team and it was time to show people how tough USC was," guard Daniel Hackett said. "We did by winning five consecutive games."
A sixth would be on Friday against the Eagles (22-11), who finished tied for sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference and have a blue-chip victory over then-No. 1 North Carolina on the road and a red-faced loss to Harvard three days later at home. The Eagles lost four of their last six regular-season games, then lost to Duke in the second round of the ACC tournament.
That puts Boston College in the what-gives category with the Trojans (21-12), who lost six of seven games in February, then gritted out three games in three days to win the conference tournament.
"They can kill you, but they can't eat you," Coach Tim Floyd said about his team's overcoming its stumbles.
Food for thought.
The turnaround, though, came after Johnson gave the Trojans something to chew on.
"Coach Johnson is like Papa Angry," forward Taj Gibson said. "He doesn't say much often, but when he lashes out, it wakes you up. He turned off the Oregon film and just said, 'You think you're tough, but are you really tough?' Guys snapped out of it."
USC swept Oregon and Oregon State to finish the regular season.
"We took that as a challenge," guard Dwight Lewis said. "Someone saying you're not tough, when you know you are? We wanted to prove we were a tough team and we had heart."
USC outlasted California, UCLA and Arizona State to win the conference tournament.
"Obviously, when you had to take the path we had to take to get there, you're just thrilled to be in this field," Floyd said. But, he added, "At this point, that's yesterday's news. Put the DVD your mama made under the bed and start getting ready for the next one, Boston College."
Yet the Trojans' chances in the tournament are embedded with that lesson.
