Bibby Draws the Line, and Trojans Convert

Desperate times demand desperate measures, or so USC Coach Henry Bibby believes.

Imploring his team in the past to improve its free-throw shooting, Bibby went a step farther, saying before Saturday’s game that he will charge the Trojans miles worth of laps for every free throw they miss.

They responded by making 80.8% of their free throws and defeating Oregon State, 71-67, before 2,735 at the Sports Arena.

“If we have another bad performance from the free-throw line, we lose this game,” said junior forward Adam Spanich, who made eight of nine free throws, three in the final 50 seconds. “I definitely think the penalty helped.”

With only eight seconds to play and USC leading, 69-65, Oregon forward Iyan Walker was called for intentionally fouling Spanich, who made both his shots and put the Trojans ahead for good.

Spanich finished with 14 points.

For the third consecutive game, USC (6-8 overall, 2-2 in the Pacific 10) started meekly and finished aggressively, pressing and using a “scrambling” defense.

USC forced 10 turnovers and held Oregon State (9-6, 0-4) to three-of-nine shooting from the floor and sophomore guard Corey Benjamin, one of the better scorers in the Pac-10, to four points in the second half.

The Trojans were leading, 68-65, with 1:30 to play when Benjamin missed a one-and-one and later an easy layup.

“We didn’t want Benjamin to get going,” Bibby said. “We played defense to keep him from getting the ball.”

Playing poorly in the fist half has plagued the Trojans. In the future, Bibby said he will use the first half as an audition. “Today, we said everybody would get an opportunity,” Bibby said, “and the guys playing the best will play at the end of the game.”

Senior point guard Gary Johnson continued his scoring surge to lead the Trojans with 19 points, most coming on short jump shots.

Senior forward Gary Williams added 11 points and made all four of his free throws. Williams gave USC some badly needed offensive punch late in the game.

“I realized that I only have 15 more games to play as a Trojan,” Williams said. “I’ve been playing hard but I knew I could play harder. I think that if we’re going to start winning, we’re going to need everybody to contribute.”

The Trojans forced 10 turnovers in the second half and were effective scoring inside, thanks mostly to sophomore forward Jarvis Turner.

Turner, who made his second appearance since missing seven games because of a broken hand, scored six points and snatched seven rebounds.

One of the Trojan mainstays, Anthony White, who was sidelined for much of the season because of a broken foot, left the game with about 10 minutes left after suffering what is believed to be a bruise on the same foot.

Trailing at halftime, 36-29, the Trojans were too busy worrying about shutting down Benjamin and forgot about Oregon guard Jerome Vaden, who scored his team’s first 17 points in the second half on his way to scoring 19.

Another factor in USC’s rally was the crowd, or what there was of one. The fans were appreciative of the Trojans’ comeback and got vocal after new USC football Coach Paul Hackett was introduced with 3:41 to play.