SHOWDOWN: A TALE OF TWO SCHOOLS.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

Inside the USC locker room, 10 minutes before tipoff: coach Henry Bibby rails against his alma mater, UCLA. He tells his Trojans the game they'll play tonight at Pauley Pavilion is for the Pacific-10 title and an NCAA Tournament berth, but most of all it's for respect.

Building to a rage, he mentions UCLA forward J.R. Henderson's recent trash talk - ``I just can't see 'SC as this top-notch team . . . I don't plan on losing to 'SC.'' - and demands the underdog Trojans leave their blood and guts on the court.

Meanwhile, in the UCLA locker room, coach Steve Lavin calmly sets the scene. He explains that every game is crucial, whether it's Stanford, Arizona, Duke - or USC. He reminds the Bruins to play through momentum swings, turnovers and bad calls, that the winner will be the best team over 40 minutes.

The Bruins and Trojans take the floor filled with nervous excitement. The sellout crowd roars. After five years - finally a USC-UCLA game with the Pac-10 title on the line.

The first 10 minutes ooze emotion. A few elbows. Some trash talk. Perhaps even a technical foul. One team surges, then the other.

Then it becomes a basketball game - 30 minutes of matchups and 3-point shots, free throws and rebounding. Of executing offensive and defensive strategies under pressure.

``For the first 10 minutes it's all emotion,'' Bruins forward Charles O'Bannon said. ``You come out fired up, reading quotes in the locker room. But it's how you handle the last 30 minutes that counts. That's big for our team. To us, this is just another big game.''

Five of UCLA's top six players have national title rings. They have two Pac-10 title rings. They are used to taking their opponent's best shot and are well-equipped to handle tonight's pressure.

But what of USC?

``We've been in big games before, and we know this is another in a long line of them,'' Bruins point guard Cameron Dollar said. ``We don't know their big-game mentality. They may be prepared, they may not be prepared.''

A few other questions that may decide the outcome:

Do the Trojans believe they can win?

Saying it is different from believing it. The Bruins won in Arizona's McKale Center last week not because of execution or percentages or tactical adjustments, but because they'd done it before - in 1995 - and knew they could do it again.

USC's recent visits to Pauley have been disastrous: a 29-point loss in 1994, a 19-point loss in 1995, a 27-point loss last year.

Who plays better, USC's Stais Boseman or UCLA's Charles O'Bannon?

Each has carried his team to this confrontation - O'Bannon with his scoring and rebounding, Boseman with his scoring and defense. Both are seniors. Both understand the stakes. Neither can afford an off night.

``We've had a number of battles dating to our junior year (of high school),'' O'Bannon said. ``It's just two competitors who want to win. But I'd say he knows my game better than anyone besides my teammates.''

Can the Trojans stop UCLA?

Sound too simple? Consider the evidence: UCLA leads the nation in field-goal shooting, at 52.8 percent. USC is last in the Pac-10 in field goal defense, allowing foes to shoot 44.7 percent.

Last year in Pauley, the Bruins shot a school-record 73.1 percent against USC.

Last month, they shot 67.3 percent at the Sports Arena.

Expect Bibby to order full-court pressure and half-court traps to minimize UCLA's size advantage - just as Arizona did last week when it forced 28 UCLA turnovers.

``We have to attack (USC's) fire with fire,'' Lavin said. ``If they press us, we have to make them pay.''

Arizona paid with its Pac-10 title hopes. Will the Trojans?

Should be a dandy.

MATCHUP

The Bruins and the Trojans meet tonight with first place in the Pac-10 at stake. The matchups:

UCLA USC

10-3, 15-7 Records 9-4, 14-8

O'Bannon (16.7) Top Scorer Boseman (16.5)

O'Bannon (6.9) Top Rebounder Wilson (6.2)

52.8 FG Pct. 44.8

41.6 Opp. FG pct. 44.7

USC vs. UCLA

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.

TV/Radio/Etc: Fox Sports West 2; KWNK-AM (670), XTRA-AM (690), KIEV-AM (870), KGIL-AM (1260 and 540); game audio heard on the Internet at www.audionet.com.

Trojans (14-8, 9-4) update: Rodrick Rhodes missed practice Monday and is suffering from back spasms and the flu, but returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to play tonight. ``I think we're focused. I think we know what's at stake,'' USC coach Henry Bibby said. The USC players were unfazed by remarks made earlier this week by J.R. Henderson, when he said ``when I think about 'SC, it's just 'SC, we're going to beat them like we should.'' Said USC forward Gary Williams: ``Personally, it does nothing for me.'' Stais Boseman is averaging 18.3 points in Pacific-10 Conference games.

Bruins (15-7, 10-3) update: UCLA can take a commanding lead in the Pacific-10 title chase - and another step toward a berth in the NCAA Tournament's west regional - with a victory. The Bruins have beaten USC five consecutive games, including the past three at Pauley Pavilion by a combined 75 points. In last month's win at the Sports Arena, Henderson came off the bench to score 24 points as the Bruins dominated the rebounding, 45-32. A key for tonight: how will they handle USC's pressure defense and half-court traps? UCLA's turnover margin (minus-3.1) is last in the conference.

CAPTION(S):

Chart, Box

Chart: MATCHUP (see text)

Box: USC VS. UCLA (see text)