Trojans Find Consolation in Guilt Trip

Henry Bibby understood why his team carried the weight of an emotional loss onto the court against North Carolina Charlotte on Saturday night in the consolation game of the Harris Teeter/Pepsi Challenge.

USC’s coach understood, but that did not stop him from making his team feel guilty at halftime for sleeping through the first 20 minutes at the Charlotte Coliseum, scoring only 17 points, and trailing by 18 at the intermission.

“I challenged them. I told them that [the coaching staff] stayed up until 5 a.m. watching film and putting together a game plan,” Bibby said after his team rallied and defeated the 49ers, 65-61, in front of 17,341. “That is how late we stayed up. I told them that we did our job, but that they hadn’t done theirs.”

Guilt works, and apparently Bibby laid it on thick.

“He challenged our manhood,” said freshman Danny Walker, whose three-point basket with 1:17 left gave USC its first lead, 59-56.

USC (3-1) shook off a loss to North Carolina a day earlier and came out in the second half and played inspired defensively, led by Stais Boseman who had four steals to go with 21 points, 17 after Bibby’s speech.

“I know it is an excuse, but we wanted to win bad [Friday night],” USC forward Rodrick Rhodes said. “We knew what a game like that would mean to the program. It was draining and we didn’t come ready to play. But coach let us know it at halftime, and we picked it up.”

But it wasn’t until North Carolina Charlotte forward DeMarco Johnson, who had a team-high 16 points, fouled out at 2:02 with the 49ers ahead, 56-54, that USC finally overcame its poor play in the first half.

After Gary Williams made two free throws to tie it, Walker got a piece of Sean Colson’s jump shot and Rhodes rebounded. After a USC timeout, Rhodes drove from the top of the lane against 7-foot-2 Alexander Kuehl. Rhodes looked first for Jaha Wilson inside, but then passed to Walker, who was alone in the right corner.

“It was drawn up exactly like that,” Walker said. “Rod at the top with a high post and a roll down. If the big man came over he was to slip by and look for the open shooter. Both me and Stais were in the corners.”

Those were the biggest of Walker’s 10 points, but his most impressive may have come near the end of the first half. Bibby sat down Rhodes and Boseman for the final 6:30 and North Carolina Charlotte pushed its lead to 20.

Walker scored USC’s only points in the final six minutes, making two of four free throws and a three-point shot as USC pulled to within 35-17.

“Danny is a freshman, but he is part of this team and we don’t think of him as inexperienced,” said Rhodes, who finished with 15 points. “He is the best shooter we have and can make plays.”

The 49ers (2-3) had 15 of their 20 turnovers in the second half and shot only 30%. USC, meanwhile, upped its shooting percentage from 22% in the first half (six for 27) to 53.8% in the second (14 for 26).

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No. 14 North Carolina (5-1) got 28 points from tournament MVP Antawn Jamison and 12 in the second half from Shammond Williams to rally for an 86-75 victory over South Carolina (4-2) in the championship game.