Inconsistent Trojans to face No. 20 Texas at home

“Who are you?”

The question was made famous in the chorus of The Who’s 1978 hit.

For the USC men’s basketball team (4-4, 0-0), Sunday night’s daunting test at the Galen Center against Rick Barnes and the No. 20 Texas Longhorns (6-1, 0-0) will go a long way toward answering that age-old question as the team finishes out the latter part of its nonconference schedule.

Trapped · Junior forward Nikola Vucevic and the Trojans have encountered problems recently. Vucevic missed two free throws in the final seconds in the 64-63 loss to Bradley two weeks ago and USC has lost two in a row. - Tim Tran | Daily Trojan

Through eight games, the Trojans’ only constant has been, in fact their inconsistent play.

From late-game fouls, to second-half collapses, to the home court drubbing it received at the hands of Rider, USC coach Kevin O’Neill’s squad enters its stiffest challenge to date.

“The only long-term goal I have for this team is that we continue to get better every day,” O’Neill said. “The wins and losses will take care of themselves as we move forward.”

But if the team is to notch one in the win column against its upcoming Big 12 foe, it will take  much more than a little optimism to get the job done.

The Longhorns come to town sporting an array of talented weapons, which more or less starts with the man holding the clipboard, Barnes.

Since coming to Texas in 1997, Barnes has led the Longhorns to 12 straight NCAA tournament appearances, 11 straight 20-win seasons and holds the all-time program record for victories by a head coach with 300.

Although the team no longer has the likes of All-American Kevin Durant or All-Big 12 First Team Damion James, Barnes’ club is led by an equally gifted athlete, guard/forward Jordan Hamilton — who initially made a name for himself playing at nearby Dominguez High School in Compton, Calif.

In six games, Hamilton is averaging 22.7 points per game, 7.2 rebounds per game and connecting on almost 50 percent of his 3-point field goal attempts.

The big surprise, however, for the burnt orange in the early going, has been the outstanding all-around play of forward Tristan Thompson. The Ontario, Canada, native has not been shy during his first handful of games for the Longhorns, with  12.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.

Throw in the experience of guard Dogus Balbay and forward Gary Johnson, and USC’s final game in the 2010 Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series will be far from a cake walk.

Although the Trojans’ pulse is unclear at this point ­— the team has failed to muster more than a two-game win streak — it will continue to ride the double-double capability of its big man, junior forward Nikola Vucevic, who comes into play on Sunday boasting an average of 16 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game.

Although USC is just 1-4 over the last four years in this annual conference showdown, O’Neill and company played against the Longhorns last season — a 69-50 Texas victory in Austin, Texas — not only giving the team  added motivation but a leg up in terms of preparation as the week progresses toward Sunday’s 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

Despite the mess the team has made in recent weeks, O’Neill — who has made the tournament in his second seasons with Marquette, Northwestern and Tennessee — said he realizes that a college basketball season is not a sprint but a marathon, regardless of who is on the schedule.

“In basketball there is no crying. You have to continue play,” O’Neill said. “In our situation, the only thing we can try to do is getting better from now until the end of December.”