Cal’s Victory Gets Trojans’ Attention

The Trojan players were just emerging from the showers after Tuesday night’s 64-48 victory over Arkansas State when the news flashed over a television set in the locker room: California had defeated No. 9 North Carolina.

“Cal beat ‘em?” Brandon Granville asked aloud.

Adam Spanich yelled: “Wow.”

They stopped to watch highlights of Cal guard Geno Carlisle scoring a season-high 29 points to fuel the comeback victory. USC plays the Golden Bears in a Pacific 10 Conference game at the Sports Arena on Jan. 16.

“You’d better start thinking about guarding Carlisle,” assistant coach David Miller called out. “You’d better guard him in the parking lot.”

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The victory over Arkansas State was, in several ways, a low mark of the season for the Trojans:

* They committed a season-low 15 turnovers but also scored a season-low 64 points.

* They held Arkansas State to its season-low of 48 points. It was the third time in nine games that defensive-minded USC has limited an opponent to fewer than 50 points.

“I think we played the best defense we’ve played all year,” Coach Henry Bibby said.

Said Arkansas State Coach Dickey Nutt of his team’s offensive performance: “We didn’t have any bright spots. I don’t know what we could have done differently to prepare. When you don’t shoot the basketball in the hole, you struggle.”