After the last three meetings between these rivals went down to the final possession, and after the last two regular-season finales were won on buzzer-beaters, well, one couldn't help but start to think that way again as USC went from down 13 to within 2 points over the final 5-plus minutes.
And the Trojans had their chances to pull off some more magic, but it just wasn't there Saturday night. Not this time.
No. 17-ranked UCLA held off the late charge for a 75-68 win over the No. 16 Trojans, ending USC's five-game win streak in the series -- the program's longest since the early 1940s.
Moreover, the Trojans (25-6, 14-6 Pac-12) have now lost back-to-back games for the first time all season, after falling earlier in the week against No. 2 Arizona.
Certainly, losing to the second-ranked team in the country and on the road in a raucous Pauley Pavilion against another nationally-ranked foe is far from reason for true panic, but USC does now have to create some fresh momentum from scratch in the Pac-12 tournament next week.
The Trojans will be the No. 3 seed and play Thursday in Las Vegas against the winner of No. 6 Washington vs. No. 11 Utah.
"The Pac-12 tournament and the NCAA tournament, they're new seasons. You throw your records out when you get to Vegas -- it's win and stay or lose or go home. It will be like that for the next few games, so we know what's at stake," coach Andy Enfield said. "We think we can win the Pac-12 tournament if we play well, but we could also lose the first round if we don't play well. This team has had an exceptional year. We're 25-6, and what am I going to say?
"Set the school record for wins in the regular season, and yeah, we lost here at UCLA and we lost two in a row. That was a very good Arizona team. But we're 25-6 and we're extremely proud of our guys for what they've accomplished this year."
Enfield was frustrated Saturday night, sure. The Trojans had 15 turnovers to UCLA's 1. They had some effort-driven defensive lapses in transition again. They threw away some pivotal opportunities late.
But he did not want to fan the narrative that his team is suddenly on the ropes after these last two games.
That message was echoed by his players.
"We're 0-0 now, so none of that matter. We go to the tournament, we've got a fresh start. We're going to go in there, win games, it's time for March, you know? We're trying to win a national championship, so we're not worried about our last two losses," guard Boogie Ellis said.
Enfield reiterated that his team played hard to the end Saturday night, and that was true.
UCLA (23-6, 15-5) peaked its lead at 69-56 with a little less than 6 minutes remaining. For a USC team coming off a 20-point loss to Arizona, well, one could have feared this game had slipped away.
"It looked like it was over kind of, but we fought back. We just didn't get over the hump at the very end," forward Isaiah Mobley said. "... I just kept telling the guys 'Believe, believe, believe.' That's all you can do is believe. Because if you give up then you know we're going to lose for sure. We were like down 10, I don't know the time, and you blink your eyes and it's a 4-point game. It was almost a one-possession game, dang near. We just didn't capitalize on that."
Oh, it was a one-possession game -- briefly at least.
Mobley was a key to sparking the comeback. After the deficit hit 13, he took a feed inside from Ellis, made a tough layup, drew a foul and knocked down the free throw to get things rolling in the Trojans' direction again.
After the teams traded a free throw each, USC reeled off 8 straight points on a Max Agbonkpolo mid-range jumper, a Drew Peterson open 3 and another tough basket by Mobley inside, who drew the foul and hit the free throw again to make it a 70-68 game with 1:22 left.
But on the ensuring UCLA possession, big man Cody Riley scored on a nice turnaround jumper in the paint to push the lead back to 4.
Mobley then got another great look close to the rim but his short hook shot didn't go down. USC retained possession out of bounds, and Peterson fired a pass to the right corner to Agbonkpolo, but he stepped out of bounds before his shot for another costly Trojans turnover.
USC sent Bruins leading scorer Johnny Juzang to the foul line with 30 seconds left and he missed both shots, but Reese Dixon-Waters couldn't connect on a 3 at the other end. After Jules Bernard went 1-of-2 from the line, Ellis missed on a 3 to seal it.
In lamenting the missed opportunities, there was one earlier on the possession before Peterson's 3-pointer, where the Trojans threw a long outlet pass to Agbonkpolo but he couldn't corral it under the rim and eventually went out of bounds trying to get the rebound.
"'They left the door open for us," Mobley said. "The long pass, Max out of bounds, I had a gimme I missed. So we all made mistakes and we all missed shots, so I don't think anyone should be like necessarily made at anyone, but it's a good chance and a good opportunity for us to really learn," Mobley said. "I feel like we made a step from Arizona -- obviously not all the way where we need to be."
Mobley led the Trojans with 20 points and 8 rebounds, Peterson had 13 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists and Ellis also scored 13.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a game-high 27 points for UCLA, which seized the No. 2 seed for the Pac-12 tournament.
"In the next week and the weeks after that, it's real. If we do something like this the season's over," Mobley continued. "So yeah, we've just got to take it with a grain of salt and keep learning from our self-inflicted mistakes and just the mistakes that they forced us to make."
