USC Finds Yet Another Way to Win

The guards were shooting as cold as the weather and the offense was verging on a deep freeze.

So, with an uncommon chill settling over Southern California, it was only fitting that USC decided to take its game inside.

The Trojans’ big men responded with career games--center Brian Scalabrine scored 26 points, freshman forward David Bluthenthal grabbed six rebounds--to lift their team to a 74-59 victory over American before a Monday night crowd of 2,346 at the Sports Arena.

“If we can get the basketball into our big guys, we feel we can score,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “We really tried to pound it in.”

That represented a return to a central theme, one that the 7-1 Trojans have been repeating since the first day of practice.

“We always talk about getting the ball inside,” Scalabrine said. “Today, we just happened to do it more.”

Scalabrine and his teammates were reminded of the post game’s importance nine days ago in a jarring, 29-point loss at Kansas. USC let that game get out of hand, in part, by taking too many quick, outside shots.

“You’re only as good as your last game and, in our last game, we got blown out,” Scalabrine said. “So we had to come out and make a statement.”

That statement came at the expense of a 3-7 American team that is on a six-game losing streak and played without two of its best scorers, freshmen Bobby Thompson, who remained home, and Omar Vanderhorst, suspended for violating team rules.

At least the Eagles had two veteran guards, Jarion Childs and Ossie Jones, returning to the lineup. Jones celebrated his comeback with a pair of three-point baskets and a double-pump layup to pace his team in the early going.

USC stayed even with an aggressive zone defense, keeping center Saliou-Binet Telly from the basket and eventually shutting down Jones, who finished with 12 points.

The Trojans’ guards, meanwhile, shot a combined four of 12 in the first half. It took a short jumper from Scalabrine to ignite a 15-3 run that was capped by forward Jeff Trepagnier scoring on an acrobatic layup and a three-pointer from the left corner.

That made the score 40-29 at halftime. Not enough to please the coach.

“We had some pretty good runs,” Bibby said. “We needed to get the ball where we wanted to get it.”

Specifically, in the paint.

Scalabrine went to work on Telly and forward Dave Small in the second half, scoring six straight points on tough, inside moves. American Coach Art Perry could only muse: “Telly was off tonight.”

USC forward Jarvis Turner was off his game, shooting-wise, but added nine rebounds. Bluthenthal, getting his first extended minutes since the season opener, added to his rebounds with six points, two blocks and two steals.

“Dave really worked hard in practice this week,” Scalabrine said. “Rebounding, scoring, everything.”

The Eagles made several attempts at a comeback, getting some outside shooting from Small, who also had 12 points. They cut the lead to 11 points with 11 minutes remaining.

“We did some decent things, played well as a team and came back a few times,” Perry said. “But we couldn’t break the deficit.”

USC sealed the victory with a 10-0 run. Much of that came from Scalabrine, who made a string of short jumpers and free throws.

So, even though the Trojans shot 41% from the field and 69% from the free-throw line, they played enough defense to hold American to 36% shooting and got the ball close enough to the basket to win.

Take it from Trepagnier who, when he wasn’t scoring 18 points and grabbing six rebounds, was watching the big men at work.

“I let those guys pound inside,” he said. “They’re too big down there for me.”