SOMETHIN' IS BRUIN RESURGENT UCLA BEATS USC, OWNS CITY UCLA 85, USC 76.

Byline: Scott Wolf  Staff Writer

USC might be ranked in the top 25, but the Trojans have a long way to go to earn respect in Los Angeles, as UCLA proved once again who owns the city.

The Bruins led for most of the game and completed a season sweep over the No. 22 Trojans with an 85-76 victory before an overflow crowd of 16,409 fans at the Sports Arena, the largest audience in Pacific-10 Conference history on a traditional home court.

And the raucous environment got ugly in the final two minutes. After the crowd had already been warned about throwing objects on the court, USC received a technical foul when an object was thrown after forward Sam Clancy fouled out with 1:53 left.

A second technical was called when a water bottle was thrown, but the officials determined it came from the UCLA section and retracted the call.

After Jason Kapono made the technical free throw and Ray Young converted both free throws from Clancy's foul, the Bruins opened up a 74-66 advantage and they closed it out from there.

Another technical was called on the USC crowd for a third object thrown onto the court with 25.1 seconds left, but the outcome had already been determined.

It was a sorry sideshow to what had been a highly anticipated game. Once again, the unranked Bruins (14-6, 8-2) dominated the Trojans (16-6, 6-4) and kept pace with No. 1 Stanford in the race for the Pac-10 title.

``It was very disappointing because we came out in the papers and talked about how hard we wanted to play,'' USC guard Jeff Trepagnier said. ``They came out and outplayed us.''

Although the game was close, UCLA led for the final 28 minutes.

Twice in the closing minutes the Bruins withstood challenges from the Trojans. The Bruins clung to a 65-64 lead, but reeled off six consecutive points for a comfortable 71-64 advantage with 2:01 left.

Although USC coach Henry Bibby insisted this week that UCLA's full-court press was not a problem, he quickly called timeout Thursday after the Bruins forced a turnover and knocked the ball out of bounds on its first two chances to press.

USC had 28 turnovers in the first game, and was harried by the Bruins' press. The Bruins' press caused four turnovers in the first half Thursday. It was a lower number, but at the same time the Trojans seemed to have trouble getting into their offense.

The game got off to a flying start, as Clancy and UCLA center Dan Gadzuric each scored the first six points for their teams. The lead changed hands nine times in the first eight minutes and Clancy scored eight of the Trojans' first 15 points.

The Trojans held a 21-18 lead when UCLA went on an 11-0 run, but the most significant play resulted in no points. UCLA guard Ray Young was called for an intentional foul on USC freshman Desmon Farmer as Farmer drove to the basket.

It immediately brought back memories of the last game, when UCLA's Earl Watson was called for an intentional foul on David Bluthenthal.

``If anybody is going to be fouling hard, it will be us,'' Trepagnier said before the game.

But that wasn't the case.

Farmer missed both free throws and the play had little impact. The Pac-10 had informed the coaches and referees before the game that it would not tolerate any hard fouls in Thursday's rematch and the officials responded quickly to Young's foul.

As expected, Pac-10 supervisor of officials Lou Campanelli attended the contest. After Young's foul, however, there were no further incidents.

The Bruins, who held eight-point leads on two occasions, maintained their advantage for the remainder of the half and led 39-34 at halftime.

One reason the Trojans struggled was the poor shooting of Bluthenthal, who missed 5 of 6 shots in the first half, making him 3 for 12 in 60 minutes against UCLA.

Bibby reacted by benching him to start the second half and going with Farmer. The move worked, because Bluthenthal came back and scored seven points in the next six minutes.

The second half got off to a worrisome beginning for the Bruins, as Watson picked up his third and fourth fouls in the first three minutes. He left with the Bruins leading 47-41.

UCLA coach Steve Lavin decided he needed Watson, and the point guard returned with 12:28 left.

The teams traded jabs almost the entire second half, but UCLA maintained the lead throughout. The game was briefly tied 54-54 when Trepagnier hit a layup with 11:23 left.

--Notes: The previous USC record for attendance was 15,517 in 1992 against UCLA. California has had larger Pac-10 crowds, but they were at the New Arena in Oakland while Haas Pavilion underwent remodeling. ... USC coach Henry Bibby is 1-10 against UCLA, his alma mater.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) USC guard Desmon Farmer takes a hard foul from UCLA's Ray Young during their game Thursday at the Sports Arena.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(2) UCLA's Jason Kapono puts a shot up against USC's Brian Scalabrine during the Bruins' victory at the Sports Arena.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer