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  KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff USC shooting guard Jeff Trepagnier gets ready to swat Wildcat center Jason Parker in the Trojan's stunning upset the over number two seed Wildcats.

By Chris Umpierre

Daily Bruin Staff

PHILADELPHIA — All week the media ignored the USC Trojan basketball team.

In the pre-game hoopla surrounding the NCAA tournament's East regional semifinal teams, the media chose to focus on the other three teams: national powerhouses Kentucky, UCLA and Duke. The aforementioned programs combine for 20 national championships.

They routinely slighted the Trojans, not giving much attention to a program that has never won a title and has just 11 tournament appearances under its belt.

After the No. 6 seeded Trojans (24-9) stunned No. 2 seed Kentucky (24-10) 80-76 Thursday night in First Union Center in front of 20,270 spectators, USC's senior forward Brian Scalabrine delivered a message to the media.

Slight this.

"Everyone in the media has something against us," he said. "We belong here, no matter what people say. USC is a great institution, and we are proving to the basketball world that we can compete."

The upset victory gives USC, a school known more for football, its first Elite Eight appearance since 1954, and its third ever such appearance. They will play No. 1 seed Duke on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four. In addition, the team's three victories in this season's tournament are the most in school history.

The Trojans' hero on Thursday was forward David Bluthenthal. The junior finished with a game-high 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting and swished a career-high six three-pointers. More importantly his 5 of 6 free throws in the final 32 seconds sealed the victory.

"The last three games I have been speechless," USC Head Coach Henry Bibby said. "I like being speechless in these situations."

His team's scintillating start to the game must have certainly caught Bibby off guard. Against one of college basketball's hottest teams (Kentucky had won 14 of their last 16 games, including the tough Southeastern Conference), the Trojans started the game with a 31-10 run.

It was the first time all season the Wildcats trailed by more than 15 points.

Although Bluthenthal's unconscious shooting played a role in the strong start, it was the Trojans' defense that had a more significant impact.

Bibby decided to use a number of zones against the Wildcats. Switching from a 1-3-1 zone to a 2-3 zone to a man-to-man defense confounded Kentucky in the early going.

The Wildcats, who feature 6-foot-9 Tayshaun Prince and 6-8 Jason Parker, were unable to get the ball through the zone to their big players. Bibby's zone defense forced Kentucky to become solely an outside shooting team and the Wildcats weren't up to the task as they shot a paltry 36 percent from the field.

The Trojans' did a spectacular job on Prine, Kentucky's leading scorer and the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, who was averaging 17 points a game. He was held to just six points, breaking a string of 29 consecutive double figure performances.

"We looked at film, an unbelievable amount of film, probably every game he has played this season," Scalabrine said. "We wanted to make him put the ball on the floor and after that its just heart and hard work."

Kentucky point guard Saul Smith felt his teammates should take some blame for Prince's off night.

"We kind of expect Tayshaun to be out there, hitting big buckets," Smith said. "But some nights its not going to be there. Some nights defenses are going to run two or three players at him and it is our job as teammates to pick him up."

Even with Prince slumping, the Wildcats roared back with fury in the second half. After trailing by 21 points (45-24) early in the second, Kentucky went on a 22-3 run over the next six minutes to amazingly close the Trojans' lead to two points (48-46).

The difference was USC's ability to finally work the ball down low to their big men. Parker finished the game with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

But the Wildcats weren't able to get over the hump. Whenever Kentucky seemed poised to take the lead, here came Bluthenthal and the Trojans.

"We were in a similar situation when we were playing Arkansas in the SEC tournament," Wildcat sophomore guard Keith Bogans said. "We were down 15 points, and we made a run and got back in the game. But I think today we were just too far down. They are a great team and they just kept making big shots every time we got back in the game."

After Kentucky cut the lead to 61-60 with seven minutes to go, USC went on a 12-6 run to grab a lead they would not relinquish.

The Trojans, who underachieved all year, didn't rush the court at the game's conclusion. They reacted as if they were the favorite.

"We felt we were going to win this game so we didn't need to celebrate," Bluthenthal said.

USC will now play No. 1 seed Duke for the right to play in the Final Four.

UCLA point guard Earl Watson likes their chances.

"USC man-for-man is probably the most talented team in the country," said Watson, whose team beat the Trojans twice this season. "They are rolling right now so it wouldn't surprise me at all if USC beats Duke by 10 or 15 points."