LOS ANGELES – Shortly after USC learned it had made the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season, Andy Enfield met reporters on one of the team’s practice courts at the Galen Center and grinned.

When he passed through the double-doors, he cradled a weeks-old pug in his right arm.

He introduced her as “Cali.” She wore a cardinal sweater with gold trim as if to be a young George Tirebiter, the school’s unofficial mascot of the 1940s. In February, he had picked her out as a present for his three young children and wife, Amanda.

“She’s our good luck charm,” Enfield, the fourth-year coach, said of the pup.

Laughs ensued. It was a light-hearted moment amid a stressful three days for USC.

When the Trojans were knocked out by UCLA late Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, it meant they could no longer secure the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, left instead to fight for one of 36 at-large bids.

Ultimately, they breathed a sigh of relief, sneaking into the field of 68. The Trojans, seeded 11th, will face Providence in a play-in game on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio, as part of the “First Four.”

“We thought we were in the tournament,” Enfield said. “We thought we deserved to be. We didn't know what seed. Of course, there’s always a small chance when you take it our your hands.”

Most of the season, it appeared unlikely they would need to sweat it out over the final weekend. The Trojans started 14-0 for the first time in 46 years and did not lose a game until late December.

But a four-game losing streak to end last month, including a loss at sub.-500 Arizona State, threatened those prospects.

Still, Enfield contended his team’s resume was deserving, including 24 wins, the second-most in school history and high-profiles upsets of SMU and UCLA. It had a ranking of 41 in the Ratings Percentage Index, the metric used by the committee. Sophomore forward Bennie Boatwright, who finished as their leading scorer, missed two months as well with a knee injury, as well.

Nerves built the previous day. After Rhode Island advanced to the Atlantic 10 championship game with a semifinal win, ESPN’s bracket projection dropped the Trojans out of the field. A handful of others followed. Some had them as the last team in. The margin was thin.

Over the weekend, Enfield attempted to resist paying attention. On Saturday, he said watched the basketball games of his two daughters, Aila and Lily, and son, Marcum. His family also attended a USC women’s beach volleyball in Manhattan Beach. Of course, there was the puppy too.

He already made his case, lobbying for the Trojans after their Pac-12 Tournament loss.

“We've got 24 wins,” he said outside the visiting locker room at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “You don't get 24 wins if you're not a good team.”

Only three other Pac-12 teams made the tournament.

The selection committee took USC as the second-to-last team, instead of Syracuse, which would have had the second worst RPI to make the tournament, though boasted five top-50 RPI wins.

The Trojans will again match up with Providence, with a chance to avenge last season’s defeat and justify their inclusion. Some analysts highlighted the fact they had only four other top-100 RPI wins outside of SMU and UCLA, and had not defeated a team with a winning record since toppling the Bruins on Jan. 25.

The Friars knocked USC out of the first round last season, 70-69, after a last-second, inbounds play.

Forward Rodney Bullock slipped underneath the basket and made a layup with 1.5 seconds to end the Trojans’ season.

“It’s good,” junior guard Jordan McLaughlin said of getting another crack at Providence.

The Friars, who lost their top guards Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil, went 20-12 and finished fifth in the Big East.

The winner on Friday faces sixth-seeded SMU in the first round of the East Regional in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It would be another tight turnaround.

USC was looking at flying to Dayton on Monday afternoon and practicing at UD Arena, the host site, on Tuesday before the game.

“We’ll have to adjust quickly,” Enfield said.

But for a moment on a sunny Sunday afternoon, it was simply smiles.

Contact the writer: jkaufman@scng.com

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