When he emerged 45 minutes later, he was cradling the puppy, dressed in a petite USC shirt, and he was smiling: USC had made it into the tournament. Last March, Providence ended USC’s season in the final seconds of the NCAA tournament’s first round. 6 Southern Methodist, a team USC defeated at home in November. USC lost two starters, point guard Julian Jacobs and Nikola Jovanovic to the professional ranks. “We built it up to where we want it to be, a tournament team every year so far these last two years,” McLaughlin said.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 12, 2017 21:44 UTC