Bruins’ loss an early wake-up call

CORVALLIS, ORE. — Several USC players said they had been looking forward to a matchup against an unbeaten and top-ranked UCLA team next Saturday at the Galen Center.

But the Bruins will probably be neither following their 68-66 loss to the Ducks on Saturday.

One thing they probably will be: ready to play.

“I think UCLA will come out that much hungrier because they’re coming off a loss,” USC junior guard Gabe Pruitt said.

Trojans Coach Tim Floyd, whose team handed UCLA its last loss before its run to the NCAA title game last season, said the Bruins have been especially difficult to defeat after recent losses.

“The last time they got beat in the regular season, they went on and won about 12 in a row all the way to the finals of the tournament,” Floyd said. “I’m sure they’re going to play very inspired and it will be a very difficult game for us.”

Oregon State Coach Jay John, whose team lost by 15 points to UCLA on Thursday and by 45 to USC on Saturday, said he thought the Trojans had a chance to beat the Bruins next week.

“I definitely feel that across the country people are going to recognize that USC is a dynamic team,” John said after the Trojans’ 91-46 win at Gill Coliseum. “They’ve made great strides in the last couple of weeks.”

Said Oregon State guard Angelo Tsagarakis: “They may have more talent than UCLA. UCLA may be a better team the way they execute things because USC is more one-on-one, but overall, talent-wise, USC is up there.”

*

Freshman walk-on guard Ryan Wetherell was so impressive in his nine minutes off the bench Saturday that Floyd said if his performance had preceded USC’s game against Oregon, Floyd might have been inclined to use Wetherell to help defend quick Ducks guards Aaron Brooks and Tajuan Porter.

“Now I know I can play at that level, so I’ll be more confident the next time I go in,” said Wetherell, who had two points, two assists and no turnovers in his Pacific 10 Conference debut.

[email protected]