L.A. BECOMES FARMER TOWN USC GUARD DOMINATES IN OT WIN OVER UCLA USC 78, UCLA 77.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

Bragging rights? It's more like whispering rights that were at stake as USC and UCLA stumbled into their game Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

The game was so insignificant it added special meaning this week when sixth place in the Pacific-10 Conference became the winner's prize.

But even though each team sported a sub-.500 record, and USC blew a 17-point lead, the finish was another crosstown classic as the Trojans defeated the Bruins 78-77 in overtime in front of an announced crowd of 10,147.

The game ended with UCLA forward Dijon Thompson shooting two free throws with five-tenths of a second remaining. Thompson's first shot hit the heel, bounced in the basket and popped out.

His second shot, which he tried to miss, banked off the backboard and into the basket.

The sequence capped an emotional comeback for USC (12-13, 7-9), which trailed 74-69 with less than two minutes remaining.

But guard Desmon Farmer scored nine consecutive points in overtime for the Trojans, including a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left that gave USC a one-point lead. He scored on a three-point play with 27.1 seconds left to give USC its winning points.

``Coach (Henry Bibby) told me it was my time to take over and that's what I did,'' Farmer said. ``I was struggling all night. I didn't want to go out and lose in my last game at home.

``I told the guys it's my last game, go hard. Definitely, this is the No. 1 (victory in my career) right here.''

Before Farmer, who had 28 points, got hot it looked as though UCLA would overcome the odds and provide Bruins coach Ben Howland his first victory in the series.

The Bruins trailed 49-32 early in the second half but tied it 65-65 on a hook shot by Ryan Hollins with 1:31 left. Neither team scored in the final 91 seconds, however, forcing overtime.

UCLA had a chance to win it, but forward Trevor Ariza (career-high 24 points) threw an errant pass under the basket with 5.2 seconds left that went out of bounds. USC guard Errick Craven shot an air ball as the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation.

The Trojans committed turnovers on two of their final four possessions. The Bruins doggedly chipped away at the lead in the second half, gradually cutting USC's lead to 51-41, then 59-55 before Hollins tied it.

UCLA (11-13, 7-9) actually scored 11 consecutive points at the end of regulation and beginning of overtime to turn a 65-59 deficit into a 70-65 advantage.

Another star for USC was forward Jeff McMillan, who had his second big game in less than a week. McMillan scored 19 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds after having 21 points and 13 rebounds against top-ranked Stanford.

It's the first time USC has won four in a row in the series since 1943, when the Trojans won 42 consecutive games. USC also moved into sixth place in the Pac-10, because it owns the tiebreaker with UCLA.

The Bruins led most of the first half before USC went on a 12-0 run to take a 33-26 on lead. The Trojans ended up leading 38-30 at halftime as McMillan scored 11 points and Farmer 10.

Ariza was a one-man show in the first half, scoring 17 points and making four of five 3-point attempts. USC's 23-15 edge in rebounding was the difference in the half. McMillan led everyone with eight.

Scott Wolf, [phone]

scott.wolf(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

USC's Jeff McMillan slams home two points Wednesday for the Trojans, who beat UCLA for the fourth time in a row.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

Box:

PAC-10 STANDINGS