USC NO MATCH FOR NO. 14 WASHINGTON WASHINGTON 84, USC 59.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

USC's basketball team made like the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl.

The Sooners, who were pummeled by the Trojans in the Tuesday's national championship football game, committed five turnovers - the same number of giveaways USC had in the first four minutes of Thursday's 84-59 Pacific-10 Conference loss to 12th-ranked Washington at the Sports Arena.

USC had 17 turnovers in the first half and 20 for the game. The Trojans fumbled against the press, fumbled inside passes, fumbled fastbreak passes and fumbled crossover dribbles, too. Mostly, they fumbled a big opportunity.

Washington, having its best season in three decades, came as advertised in front of 2,633.

``We treat every game like it's an entree,'' Huskies guard Nate Robinson said. ``They're dinner. Everyone on our team is so hungry. We want to win so much. Now, UCLA is the full-course meal. Today, by the way USC played, it was like an appetizer. It was a taste.''

USC interim coach Jim Saia doesn't want to dwell on Thursday's game either. But there was so much that went wrong and so much that needs to change before Saturday's meeting with Washington State.

It wasn't just turnovers that buried the Trojans, who made just 13 of 32 free throws (40.6 percent). Saia poked fun at the statistic, telling reporters his team might have set a record for free-throw futility. USC also was outrebounded 45-33 and grabbed just one offensive board in the first half.

USC finished with 11 offensive rebounds but Washington scored 21 second-chance points and its pressure defense frazzled USC.

``We couldn't run our offense at all,'' Saia said. ``We have something called penetration game but we just haven't practiced it enough ... We kind of froze out there.''

USC (7-7) fell to 0-3 in Pac-10 play, its worst start since the 1990-91 season, when the Trojans were 0-4. But George Raveling's team finished 10-8 in conference and still made the NCAA Tournament.

The Huskies (13-1, 3-0) seem primed to make a run in the NCAA Tournament and have become one of the West Coast's top teams.

``They hold you back,'' said USC's Nick Young, who scored all of his 20 points in the second half. ``We couldn't do our moves out there. We just rushed too much.''

About the only thing that stirred the crowd was public address announcer Petros Papadakis' halftime announcement congratulating the football team: ``If you've been under a rock, perhaps you haven't heard ... the USC Trojans are the national champions in college football. Fight on.''

But the Trojans' basketball team, like the football Sooners, was overmatched Thursday.

With 2:38 left, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, a UCLA product, emptied his bench. After the game, USC athletic director Mike Garrett congratulated Romar, who in turn congratulated Garrett on the Orange Bowl victory.

Saia is still trying for his first conference victory.

``We need to get a win somewhere down the road,'' Saia said. ``I need to get the team playing well and confident.''

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Washington's Nate Robinson dives for a loose ball in the Huskies' rout of USC Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News