This Time, It’s Trojans Who Outclass an Opponent

After battling North Carolina and Duke last week, USC figured to have a much easier time Wednesday with UC Santa Barbara. And the Trojans did, routing the winless Gauchos, 94-73, before 1,879 at the Sports Arena.

But an easy opponent doesn’t mean an easy night if you don’t apply yourself, a message Coach Henry Bibby strongly expressed to his team when it led only 40-30 at the half.

The Trojans got the message, scoring 16 unanswered points to start the second half. That surge made sure USC would end its two-game losing streak, even its record at 3-3, and keep Santa Barbara winless. The Gauchos are 0-4.

“Basketball is a game of spurts,” Bibby said. “In the games we’ve played, there have been three to four [key] spurts every game. When you stop people, you can get the run that puts you over the edge.”

Led by Jeff Trepagnier’s 23 points, the Trojans never trailed and led by as many as 16 points in the first half. But the players said afterward even they realized they didn’t have their minds completely on the game, in particular Sam Clancy, who got the strongest rebuke from his coach.

“I thought Sam had a horrible first half,” Bibby said. “He’s played so well that it was out of character.”

Clancy, who had nine points at the half, finished with 22 and a game-high 11 rebounds.

“I don’t know why, but it was hard to get my head into it in the first half,” Clancy said. “But we all kind of got off to a slow start, and Coach kind of jumped us. The second half we were more focused.”

If only UCSB’s problems were that easy to solve. The Gauchos got off to a bad start even before the season when senior guard Larry Bell and redshirt freshman forward Eric Hare were arrested and suspended for allegedly running up more than $3,000 in charges on a telephone calling card that didn’t belong to them.

Then Santa Barbara started playing its games, and things haven’t gotten much better. In losses to Stanford, San Jose State and San Francisco, the Gauchos broke the 50-point barrier only once while shooting an anemic 31.7% from the field.

They were slightly better Wednesday, firing away at a 37% clip. But the Gauchos, who were led by Erick Ashe’s 20 points, were no longer in the game after the first four minutes of the second half.

Last year, UCSB lost its first eight games but still went on to a 15-13 season and the Big West Western Division championship. This year’s squad will be hard pressed to equal that accomplishment.

“This is a lot more frustrating because our expectations [this season] were higher,” Gaucho Coach Bob Williams said. “We understood we could be a pretty good team and be 0-4 because we’re playing tough games. But I don’t know if being 0-4 is as bad as the fact we’re not playing very well.”

The Trojans, knowing Bibby was going to use his bench extensively, expended plenty of energy on defense, using a full-court press that helped fluster the Gauchos into 31 turnovers.

“It was a different flow tonight,” said Brian Scalabrine, who had 21 points. “I didn’t have to pace myself. I could play hard, go out and get some rest, come back in and play hard again.”

But Bibby didn’t sound as if the Trojans should get used to a 10-man rotation. The key bench players--Kostas Charissis (who fouled out in nine minutes), Nate Hair and Malachi Thurston--were a combined three for 10 from the field and contributed six points.

“I didn’t see anything I hadn’t seen since practice began in October,” Bibby said.