It’s More Than Just a Game

It was the summer of 1969 and Henry Bibby was a sophomore guard at UCLA when he got his first glimpse of the animosity between the Bruins and the Trojans. That was when he witnessed teammate Sidney Wicks try to choke USC’s Mack Calvin in a summertime pickup game.

“There was total hatred there,” Bibby said. “The guys totally disliked ‘SC.”

Thirty years later, Bibby coaches at USC and watches as his young players learn about the cross-town rivalry.

Adam Spanich, a senior guard for Trojans, had to play a couple of games against the Bruins to get the idea. So much for the UCLA cap he wore when he was in high school in Iowa.

“That hat’s gone,” Spanich said.

Sophomore center Brian Scalabrine, who transferred from a Washington junior college last fall, has been hearing the buzz around Heritage Hall.

“It was just a normal game for me,” he said. “But now I know it’s a big thing around here. I know [Athletic Director] Mike Garrett wants us to win this game.”

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When the teams met in the Sports Arena last year, UCLA won in overtime. This season, Bibby thinks he knows what the Trojans must do to end an eight-game losing streak to the No. 13 Bruins.

A little bit of everything.

“We need to minimize our mistakes,” Bibby said. “We need to box out, rebound the basketball and run. We need to execute our half-court offense.”

Having watched videotape of the Bruins’ transition game, especially the dunks that come at the end of their fastbreaks, Scalabrine was concerned about the running part.

“We’re athletic,” the 6-foot-9 center said. “But they’re more athletic than we are.”

Tonight

UCLA at USC

7:30, Fox Sports West

* Radio--XTRA (690), KXTA (1150)

* Site--Sports Arena

* Records--Bruins 12-4, 4-2 in Pacific 10; Trojans 10-5, 2-4

* Update--Nobody in the Pacific 10 Conference is better at stealing the ball than UCLA and USC. The two teams will look to use defense to create easy fastbreak points.