*--Updated with Ben Howland quotes.

In the immediate aftermath of USC's ugly but huge 65-55 win over UCLA late Friday at the Pac-10 tournament, Trojan coach Tim Floyd was asked if his team had done enough to play its way into the NCAA tournament.
Floyd reprised the spin cycle he'd employed when asked the exact same question a day earlier -- injuries, quality of the Pac-10, strength of schedule, etc., etc., etc.
And then, finally, he got to the heart of the matter.
"We've got a good basketball team," Floyd said, "but we're going to approach it like we need to win some more games."
That's how USC has played in the first two days of the tournament -- like a team that has to win.
That's why it will have the chance to win one more -- today at 3:15 p.m. against Arizona State -- and get into the tournament without any lobbying or spinning. Or, for that matter, prayer.
It may have been a slog through the mud, but when the final buzzer sounded, as far as USC was concerned, the result was a thing of beauty.
From the Trojan perspective, the night was all about defense.
"Real proud of our overall team effort on the defensive end," said Floyd. "... I thought Marcus Simmons' defense on (Darren) Collison out front was terrific."
Collison finished 1 of 9 from the field and had four points, along with three assists -- and seven turnovers. (He also brushed off a postgame question about an injury: "I'm never going to make excuses. I was perfectly fine to help my teammates out. We had a chance to win the ballgame, that's the most important thing." Ben Howland later said Collison's back was "really affecting him.")
It wasn't just Simmons playing defense.
"We were guarding," said Taj Gibson, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 1:46 left. "We were getting through screens, we were denying the post, we were taking (away) the second-chance shots by rebounding the ball down. And we just got back. We didn't let Collison drive and kick.
"We were guarding tonight."
Still, that almost wasn't enough. That UCLA shot just 27 percent -- 19 of 70 from the field, a figure straight out of a 6-year-old-and-under league -- almost wasn't enough to assure USC a win. Because as much as there was good defense in this game, there was also a whole lot of bad offense.
"We really struggled to score," said UCLA coach Ben Howland. "Nineteen for 70 from the field I think really says it all for us. .... Some of the shots were really, really rushed. I think we took some shots too early. We didn't handle the pressure well and they did a really good job pressuring, and we need to execute better against pressure."
It would be hard to overstate how ugly this game could be. Let's put it this way: You'd see better basketball at a Clippers intrasquad scrimmage.
This was particularly true in the second half. At the TV time out with 11:10 remaining, the teams had combined for 29 possessions. Eight resulted in scores -- and 12 in turnovers. In one four-and-a-half minute stretch, there were turnovers on nine of 13 possessions, a stretch broken up by one basket (by USC's Daniel Hackett) and three missed shots.
If you think that's inefficient, consider UCLA's second half as a whole: 44 possessions, 10 for 41 shooting, 10 turnovers.
It was not only no surprise that USC led 57-42 with 2:44 to play, it was a wonder the lead wasn't more.
But then the Trojans did their very best to give the game away -- and the Bruins did their very best not to take it.
After that lead reached 15, here's what happened in the next 99 seconds:
Josh Shipp made a rare UCLA basket (57-44). USC turned the ball over, and Shipp and Alfred Aboya missed layups before Malcolm Lee was fouled and mad two free throws (57-46).
USC turned the ball over, and Aboya made one of two free throws (57-47), missed the second, and Jrue Holiday grabbed the rebound. Shipp and Holiday missed 3-pointers before Aboya was fouled and made one of two free throws (57-48), rebounding his own miss and missing a layup; USC's DeMar DeRozan made one of two free throws after getting the rebound, making it 58-48 with 1:40 to play.
UCLA's Jerime Anderson then scored on a layup (58-50). USC turned the ball over, with Aboya getting the steal and a dunk (58-52). USC pushed the lead back to 60-52 with two Dwight Lewis free throws, but Lee scored on a layup (60-54) after which -- stop me if you've heard this one before -- USC turned the ball over.
Holiday made one of two free throws on the ensuing possession (66-55 with 1:05 remaining) after which USC finally restored order with four DeRozan free throws.
Wild. Ugly.
But for USC, it didn't have to be good. It just had to be good enough, and it was.
History is written by the winners, which is why Gibson was able to contend, straight-faced, that USC "just stuck together; nobody panicked." That means that final flurry apparently featured the four calmest turnovers you'll ever see.
Still, USC did play some defense. And it did live to play another day.
Right now, the net result is way bigger than the sum of its flaws.

A fairly abbreviated postgame session for the late game, but then, it was a fairly abbreviated contest, at least in terms of how long it remained competitive: UCLA hammered Washington State with a 21-0 run in the first half to go up 25-5 and went on to win 64-53. The Cougars posed minimal resistance, but got close enough at the end that Ben Howland brought his starters back for the last 1:45. (He got a bit frosty when someone asked him about it, too.)
The two stories were that run, and UCLA's defensive effort. Naturally, Howland wanted to talk about the defense, which held Washington State to 30 percent shooting, just 20.6 percent (7 of 34) in the first half. The Cougars' trio of starting guards combined to go 5 for 29.
"I thought our guys really really came out and did a tremendous job," said Howland. "... That's definitely one of our best defensive games in quite a while, and that's what it takes to win in postseason play.
"I was really, really pleased particularly with Jrue Holiday's defense on Klay Thompson (who was 2 for 11 and had five points) and Darren (Collison)'s defense on (Taylor) Rochestie (1 for 11, 8 points)."
So why was this defensive effort so good?
"Just the mental preparation," said Howland. "I though Jrue Holiday's sense of urgency defensive was so good tonight. ... We doubled the post early, did it most of the first half. They did miss a couple of open shots, so we were fortunate there."
It was left to Collison to discuss the big start.
"I thought the team felt great today," he said. "I don't know if it was the later game or not, but I thought everybody was really in it, really enthusiastic before the game -- unlike the second time we played Washington State, our intensity was at a high level.
"We've said all along that when our intensity is at a high level, it's going to be tough to beat us."
That's a wrap for Thursday. Friday's semifinals are Arizona State-Washington at 6 p.m. and USC-UCLA at 8:30 p.m.

Attendance is clearly off at this year's Pac-10 tournament (despite some of the rather generous numbers we've seen on the box scores) and here's the utlimate proof: Staples Center PR maven Michael Roth just stopped at our section of press row to announce a special deal for Friday, if UCLA holds on to beat Washington State (at this writing, the Bruins are up by 17 with 8:33 left).
USC or UCLA students with a valid ID will be able to buy tickets for tomorrow's semifinals -- including, it appears, a USC-UCLA meeting in the 8:30 game -- for just $10.
Maybe that will fill some of the vast empty spaces in the upper sections -- though I believe Roth said the deal would be good for the available seats in every level.