USC DOGGED, LOSES BIG LEAD HUSKIES SHOCK TROJANS WASHINGTON 76, USC 72.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

SEATTLE - Identifying the precise turning point in a 40-minute college basketball game can be as futile as pinpointing an exact cause for the national economy going sour. Simply put, there are too many plays and too many factors involved to pick just one.

But sometimes it's as easy as finding an elephant in an ant farm.

A case in point is Washington's 76-72 victory Saturday in Pacific-10 Conference play over USC, which allowed the Huskies to come back from a 21-point deficit.

USC's Brandon Brooks was assessed a technical foul for jawing too much at the Huskies after he fed Nick Curtis for a layup to put the Trojans (5-4, 1-1) ahead 30-9 with 6:11 remaining in the first half.

The technical did more than give Washington two free throws - both of which Will Conroy converted to make it 30-11 - it caused a major momentum change, and over the remainder of the half USC got just two field goals and six free throws while being outscored by the energized Huskies 19-10.

What was a 21-point lead was just 40-30 at intermission, and all the momentum the Trojans had built in a brilliant performance over the first 13 minutes was surrendered to the Huskies. Washington outplayed and outworked USC to open the second half, making up the rest of the deficit, then winning it on Bobby Jones' hustle rebound and put-back layup with three seconds left to put Washington ahead 74-72.

``That kind of swung things around,'' USC coach Henry Bibby said of Brooks' technical. ``That was a big technical foul at the time of the game. They caught some momentum going into halftime, and a 10-point lead at the half is nothing. A 20-point ballgame is really nothing in basketball this day and time when it's still so early.''

Doug Wren had 24 points for the Huskies (6-5, 1-1) and Conroy added 16.

``This was a character win for us,'' Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. ``I could go on and on about all the different guys tonight.''

There were factors other than Brooks' technical foul. USC did a poor job of rebounding in the second half after controlling the boards in the first. The Trojans' defensive intensity, which helped limit Washington to 28.1 percent shooting (9 of 32) in the opening 20 minutes, vanished in the second half when the Huskies converted 44.4 percent on 16 of 36 shooting, many of which came on second and third shots following offensive rebounds.

There were also problems handling the Huskies' press, which helped force 17 turnovers and resulted in 20 points, and too many lapses in focus.

After Jones' basket with three seconds left, USC ran an inbounds play under the Washington basket in which Errick Craven was to get the ball then run along the sideline as far as he could before launching a shot. But in his haste to get up court, Craven stepped out of bounds to give Washington the ball.

All of it contributed to the collapse.

``We were making mental mistakes,'' said Derrick Craven, who had a career-high 10 points. ``Just little things we should have done.''

The Trojans' only can hope now that the severe swing of emotion and level of play doesn't carry over to Wednesday, when they face crosstown rival UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

``It's terrible, man,'' said a dejected Curtis, who couldn't enjoy his best game of the year. The sophomore forward had 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, but rather than relish in his performance he was searching for answers.

``We have to play every game like it's our last,'' he said. ``We have to play every minute like it's the last minute.''

They can start by keeping up the defensive intensity for an entire 40 minutes and getting more rebounding help for Curtis. Errick Craven had 10 rebounds, but center Rory O'Neil, who had 16 points, had just five.

``We need other people to step up and help out,'' Bibby said. ``Nick had a great game, but you have to have more than one or two guys.''