Trepagnier Has Drive, Trojans Have Victory

The few square feet of court around the basket can be a downright scary place, what with all those 7-foot centers and muscle-bound forwards. For much of the season, Jeff Trepagnier and his lithe 6-foot-4 body wanted no part of it.

“I didn’t want to go in there,” Trepagnier said. “I was shooting all jump shots.”

But driving to the basket is what the USC guard does best, launching himself skyward, coming down with some form of dunk. He reacquainted himself with that talent Thursday night and, in the process, lifted the Trojans to a 70-57 upset over Washington at the Sports Arena.

Trepagnier scored a game-high 22 points, most from close range, none bigger than the tomahawk dunk that highlighted a 13-0 run in the closing minutes. That stretch changed the game from a nip-and-tuck affair into a blowout.

His performance, all but wasted on a sparse crowd of 3,044, rekindled memories of similarly acrobatic exploits against lesser teams early in the season.

“Jeff has probably had seven or eight games where he hasn’t played this well,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “Tonight, he was back to his old self.”

Just in time to help the Trojans on the first step of a stretch run they hope will land them a postseason bid. At 13-11, 5-10 in Pacific 10 Conference play, they must defeat Washington State at home and either Arizona or Arizona State on the road to have a shot at the National Invitation Tournament.

“We have something to reach for,” forward Sam Clancy said. “We played great.”

Trepagnier’s offense was only part of the story. The Trojans played the kind of defense that has held opponents below 70 points in five of the last six games. They also employed a philosophy that helped them upset Stanford two weeks ago--pressure the perimeter shooters and make the Huskies beat them inside.

That can be risky against Washington and its center, Todd MacCulloch, who scores 18.8 points a game and leads the conference in rebounds and field goal percentage. But it worked. MacCulloch got his 20 points and 15 rebounds while freshman guard Senque Carey, who has scored in double figures 11 of the last 13 games, was held to one basket.

“We didn’t understand how well USC can play,” said Washington Coach Bob Bender, whose team has slipped to 16-10 and 9-7 on the way to an expected NCAA tournament bid.

“We couldn’t handle their zone trap,” Bender said. “We had to rely on jump shots, and when we rely on jump shots, we tend to struggle.”

The Huskies turned the ball over 24 times and surrendered too many easy baskets--a layup by guard Brandon Granville, a jump shot by Clancy, yet another dunk by Trepagnier--in the early going. When Clancy slapped away a shot by Washington guard Michael Johnson, the Trojans had a 35-30 lead at halftime.

“This team thrives so much on defense,” Granville said. “We’re starting to put it together.”

Defense made for more easy scores in the second half as USC broke a 39-39 tie with, in short succession, a floating tip by Trepagnier, an Elias Ayuso three-point basket and a Clancy dunk.

The Huskies had one more run left, closing to 52-51 with 9:30 remaining, but seven minutes passed before Washington scored again. By then, USC led 65-52.

The Trojans spread their offense around. Clancy finished with nine points, Greg Lakey had eight, Granville and Ayuso finished with seven. USC also took care of the ball, committing only nine turnovers to help make up for 41.2% shooting.

But the highlights were saved for an all-but-forgotten sophomore guard who overcame his fear of foreboding places.

“I just started going to the hole,” Trepagnier said. “It really worked out for me.”