The Trojans come up short in the end — losing to UCLA 65-64.

Up most of the game, and by 10 at several points, USC then went cold on a 14-2 UCLA run led by Lorenzo Mata, who is more likely to wind up on People Magazine’s “100 Most Beautiful People” than make a free throw.

But thanks in part to Tim Floyd’s strategy of fouling the 32% free throw shooter, USC came back on a 7-0 run of its own, capped by a Nick Young 3-pointer (+1) to give the Trojans the lead — only to have UCLA’s Aaron Afflalo sink one with only 4 seconds left.

Taj Gibson showed his mettle against the Bruin bigs, looking really impressive; but maybe not enough to get some calls from the refs.