Alex Stepheson

Your sweetheart turns you down for somebody 3,000 miles away. Nothing personal. It's them, not you. But things don't work out -- family issues -- so your crush moves back home, where you're waiting, thinking you have a chance. Only your crush turns you down, again, and starts dating your neighbor. That's why today's UCLA-USC showdown is awkward for Trojans forward Alex Stepheson. UCLA recruited him "real tough," he says, out of North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake High in 2006, but Stepheson chose North Carolina.

USC's basketball team has suffered another bad break. Coach Kevin O'Neill revealed Wednesday that 7-foot forward DeWayne Dedmon has a broken right hand and could be out four to six weeks. O'Neill has tabbed Dedmon, a sophomore who sat out last season after transferring from Antelope Valley College, a potential NBA lottery pick. Dedmon sustained the injury to his shooting hand just above the knuckle of his index finger during a two-hour practice Tuesday. USC officially begins practice Friday at 5 p.m., but teams are allowed to practice two hours a week from Sept.

USC forward Alex Stepheson pedaled a stationary bicycle off to the side during practice, squeezing a tennis ball with his right hand to make it stronger. He can't do that exercise with his left hand, though. It's broken. But although that injury is costing Stepheson some practice time, it's not stopping him from playing games. Since fracturing his hand in the Trojans' season-opening win against UC Irvine on Nov. 13, Stepheson has played 74 of a possible 80 minutes in USC's next two games, totaling 15 points and 13 rebounds.

USC's rebuilding basketball program on Friday was shaken at its foundation. Nikola Vucevic, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, announced he would sign with an agent and make himself available for the NBA draft a year early. "It's the second year in a row that we've lost four of our top six [players] and 70% of our scoring during sanctions," Coach Kevin O'Neill said. "My job is to make sure we're better. Whether we can do that or not, I don't know. " Vucevic averaged 17.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and was first-team all-Pacific 10 Conference.

USC today VS. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT When : 5 p.m. Where : Galen Center. On the air : TV: none; Radio: 710. Records : USC 1-0, LMU 1-3. Record vs. opponent : 41-5. Update : The Trojans will again be without North Carolina transfer Alex Stepheson (knee) and three key players because of eligibility issues. The Lions' Drew Viney, a transfer from Oregon, has scored 52 points in his last two games. -- Pete Thomas

Reporting from Lawrence, Kan. ? At halftime against No. 3 Kansas here Saturday, USC was staring at a double-digit deficit with Allen Fieldhouse rocking as usual. A shameful exit, as is custom for most of Kansas' visitors, seemed certain. After all, points aside, USC also trailed Kansas in talent, skill and athleticism. But midway through the second half, the Trojans used an 11-0 run to take the lead after trailing by 11 at the half, turning a potential blowout into a nail-biting thriller, which USC eventually lost, 70-68.

In the final seconds, USC forward Nikola Vucevic waved his arms in triumph near midcourt before stepping over to high-five Alex Stepheson. Several feet away, UCLA's Reeves Nelson stood with his hands on his hips. Bruins center Joshua Smith could only sit and stare from the bench. When it came to the battle of the big men Sunday night at the Galen Center, it was advantage, Trojans. A super-sized one. Vucevic scored 20 points on nine-for-16 shooting, and Stepheson logged a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds during USC's 63-52 victory over the Bruins.

The day had brought the difficult news to USC that forward Alex Stepheson, one of the Trojans' biggest players by size and value, had a fractured left hand. But by night's end, the Trojans' smallest player, 5-foot-7 freshman guard Maurice Jones, was able to deliver some good news, dazzling the Galen Center with a game-high 29 points in USC's 86-73 win against Santa Clara. Jones shot 10 for 20, many on driving layups, some from impossible angles. He also had five assists, a few on no-look passes that made the crowd do double-takes at instant replays shown on the video board.

USC tonight VS. COPPIN STATE When: 7:30. Where : Galen Center. On the air : Radio: 710. Records : Trojans 1-1, Eagles 4-1. Update: USC forward Marcus Johnson will make his season debut tonight after issues related to last season's transfer from Connecticut kept him out of the first two games. Trojans Coach Kevin O'Neill said Johnson will "play a lot of minutes," but his role will hinge on the availability of forward Alex Stepheson.

Alex Stepheson, a 6-foot-9 power forward at North Carolina who was a basketball standout at North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake High, has been granted his release from the Tar Heels so that he can be closer to his family in Los Angeles. UCLA and USC are expected to be among the schools interested in Stepheson, who averaged six points a game during the NCAA tournament.

Reporting from Dayton, Ohio ? USC has accomplished what was impossible a year ago and highly improbable a month ago, but the Trojans say they're not satisfied. And Kevin O'Neill hopes they're telling the truth. "Our team was so elated to get in [to the NCAA tournament] that I hope they don't think they've reached their goal," USC's coach said Tuesday. USC (19-14) faces Virginia Commonwealth (23-11) in a first-round game here Wednesday night. The winner will be the 11th-seeded team in the Southwest Regional and play sixth-seeded Georgetown (21-10)

WEST REGION Duke is headed back to Anaheim for the West semifinals and finals. Things will go better than they did in 2003, when Duke lost to Kansas off Katella (Avenue) and had to watch Kansas beat Arizona in a thriller to earn a Final Four spot. Best early-round game in the AL West has to be Texas over Oakland. The first-round "upset" here will be No. 11 Missouri over No. 6 Cincinnati. Mick Cronin, the Bearcats' coach, has been an advocate of losing since he said last week losing early in the Big East tournament was far more important than winning.

Every morning, Kevin O'Neill, a devout Catholic, attends Mass and asks for forgiveness. He went Sunday knowing USC officials had essentially granted as much, reinstating him as USC's basketball coach after an altercation had put his job at risk. And that afternoon, he stood at the back of the team's locker room, smiling, watching his players celebrate wildly when they learned they'd advanced to the NCAA tournament. It was a win-win day for USC, and especially for O'Neill.

Not long after tipoff Thursday, USC's disaster sirens blared. Its top-notch defense: absent. Its star player: benched with foul trouble. Its deficit: ever-extending. But the fourth-seeded Trojans' youthful backcourt and their unassuming "monster" in the middle stepped up to shut down fifth-seeded California, 70-56, in the quarterfinals of the Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center. USC kept its NCAA tournament hopes alive as it enters into a tantalizing rematch with top-seeded Arizona in a Friday semifinal at 6 p.m. "We played with a sense of desperation, I thought," USC Coach Kevin O'Neill said.

Once more, with feeling? UCLA's Pacific Life Pacific 10 Conference quarterfinal against seventh-seeded Oregon or 10th-seeded Arizona State on Thursday at Staples Center represents one last chance for the second-seeded Bruins to show they no longer take lesser teams lightly. UCLA went 10-0 against the bottom half of the conference this season, but many of those victories came in the wake of flat starts. The Bruins trailed Washington State by 15 points, Stanford by 14, Arizona State by 12 and Oregon by 12 before roaring back for victories.

The idea come conference tournament time in college basketball: win and you're in. USC just wishes it knew exactly how many wins it needs ? aside from the obvious answer of three ? to earn one of 68 spots in the NCAA tournament. "I have no idea," USC Coach Kevin O'Neill said Tuesday. If fourth-seeded USC loses in Thursday's quarterfinal round against fifth-seeded California in the Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center, its chances are reduced to none. "Beating Cal is an important step," ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas said.

USC's rebuilding basketball program on Friday was shaken at its foundation. Nikola Vucevic, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, announced he would sign with an agent and make himself available for the NBA draft a year early. "It's the second year in a row that we've lost four of our top six [players] and 70% of our scoring during sanctions," Coach Kevin O'Neill said. "My job is to make sure we're better. Whether we can do that or not, I don't know. " Vucevic averaged 17.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and was first-team all-Pacific 10 Conference.

The halfway point of USC's postseason-denied conference basketball season is here -- and some Trojans were happy to apply something of a midterm grade to the team, which is 12-9 overall and 4-5 in Pacific 10 Conference play. Senior guard Dwight Lewis wasn't lenient: C-minus. "I don't think we've put too many whole games together," he said. Fellow senior Mike Gerrity was a tad more generous: B-minus. "I think we've had some good spurts along the way," he said. Coach Kevin O'Neill gave his team an "A" for effort, the only category he cares about.

About 70 boosters had lunch with USC Coach Kevin O'Neill Monday in a Galen Center ballroom. It was their fourth and final lunch with him this season, and at its end one booster presented O'Neill with a bottle of 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. "May you enjoy this when the season is over," the man said, "and may the season be over sometime in April. " Steering USC to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament ? the national semifinals are April 2 and the championship game April 4 ?

The elbow slammed into Nikola Vucevic 's jaw and blood began filling his mouth. It started coming out of his nose. The USC junior forward needed a towel -- and fast. Vucevic, head tilted back, eased onto USC's bench in the first half Saturday against California, after Golden Bears forward Harper Kamp delivered the hardest basketball blow Vucevic had yet to suffer. He tried to move his jaw and felt a pop in his ears. He wiggled his tongue, but part of it had been bitten through.