Scalabrine Regains Shooting Touch

With his scoring average on the decline in Pacific 10 Conference play, center Brian Scalabrine has forged a resurgence in the last two games.

Scalabrine scored 22 points at Stanford and 20 against UCLA. He scored most of his baskets from 10-15 feet, away from traffic in the lane and potential double-teams, where the 6-foot-9 sophomore has shown a deft shooting touch.

“I got it going early,” he said after the UCLA game. “Coach [Henry] Bibby kept calling plays for me and I kept hitting shots.”

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Shannon Swillis has played only 56 minutes this season, so the sophomore forward must make the most of his opportunities. At UCLA, he was called off the bench with 19 seconds remaining in the half and quickly dunked off a pass from Jarvis Turner.

“It felt great just to get in the game,” Swillis said.

USC’s top rebounder last season, the 6-6 Swillis has taken a back seat to newcomers Sam Clancy and David Bluthenthal.

Coming up: Thursday versus Washington, Feb. 27 versus Washington State.