USC Is a Loser on Road

On Saturday, USC became the first Pacific 10 Conference team to play St. Bonaventure on its home court. But the Trojans’ New York trip was a forgettable one, as the Bonnies scored an 80-67 victory before 5,844 at the Reilly Center.

Tim Winn scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and directed St. Bonaventure (4-1) to its third consecutive victory. He made nine of 15 shots and had a game-high seven assists.

St. Bonaventure trailed, 37-36, at halftime but led by as many as 16 in the second half.

USC (3-4) was led by Brian Scalabrine with 19 points, followed by David Bluthenthal with 17 and Sam Clancy with 15. Clancy had 11 rebounds.

The Trojans, who were without Jeff Trepagnier (attending his grandmother’s funeral) and Jarvis Turner (injury), could not establish an inside presence and settled for perimeter shots.

Three-point shooting has not been a strength for USC, which entered the game making only 24% of its shots from that range. The Trojans made seven of 13 three-point attempts in the first half, but reverted to form in the final 20 minutes, making only three of 14.

“We can shoot the three-pointer but we can’t live by it,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “We didn’t fight inside, we drifted outside and played right into their hands.

“They wanted the basketball game more than we did. They played better at every position than we did. Tim Winn took the game over. . . . we held him in the first half but in the second half he had a field day.”