Nothing Flashy, but USC Wins

USC had to be disheartened Friday to start the 1999-2000 basketball season in a Sports Arena filled with empty seats.

But the 2,056 fans who watched the opener weren’t exactly treated to an IMAX production.

USC’s 73-59 victory over Cal State Northridge was just that--a victory. Beyond sophomore Sam Clancy’s career-high 24 points and eight rebounds, Brian Scalabrine’s 18 points and Jeff Trepagnier’s 14, the Trojans played much the way they did during a 15-13 campaign last season.

“Tonight looked like the kind of games we played last year, when we couldn’t get everyone to play well,” Coach Henry Bibby said. “While it’s a win, and we did things we needed to to win, we’re going to have to be more consistent.

“We’re going to have to make a lot of adjustments for North Carolina in Hawaii [on Monday]. We’re going to have to be much better on defense, play smarter and play harder. But it was also the first game. I thought we showed flashes of being a decent team.”

Clancy, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward, didn’t score 20 points in any game before Friday. His previous high was 16 against Arizona Jan. 4 at the Sports Arena. But he scored 14 of USC’s first 20 points, made eight of 14 field goals, was eight of nine from the free-throw line and had two blocks.

“This is the way he played in the exhibition games and he’s played that way in practice,” Bibby said.

This is the way Clancy wants to play, although he won’t always enjoy the physical advantage he had against Northridge.

“The opportunities were there for me tonight,” Clancy said. “I was able to get some early rebounds and [lay-ups] and that got me going for the rest of the game. They weren’t blocking out that well.”

Clancy’s success made it easier for Scalabrine, who was double-teamed nearly every time he touched the ball.

“I wasn’t being very aggressive tonight but I also didn’t want to force things,” Scalabrine said.

“For a first game we did OK. We know we have to play better defense and be more efficient on offense.”

The Matadors, who led, 7-2, before the Trojans ran off 10 consecutive points, entered the game without forward Andre Larry, who is serving a two-game suspension for playing in a non-sanctioned summer league. Matador forward Jeff Parris injured his back during practice Thursday but started anyway and scored only eight points before fouling out.

Northridge made only 19 of 57 shots (33.3%). They were outrebounded by USC, 43-37, and had 27 turnovers. The Matadors’ main scorer, center Brian Heinle, made only four of 13 shots and scored 12 points. Guard Carl Holmes led Northridge with 14.

Although USC led, 37-22, at the half and would lead by as many as 21 points, the Trojan offense struggled. USC was eight of 32 from the field in the second half, allowing Northridge to stay in the game. Clancy and Scalabrine, who made five of 10 shots, were USC’s dependable shooters. The rest of the team was a combined eight of 34.

“We never got into a rhythm tonight,” said guard Jeff Granville, who was one of six from the field and scored only four points before fouling out. “Besides Sam and Brian no one played particularly well, myself included.”

A total of 52 fouls were called. But Bibby said that could be a trend throughout the college game.

“The word this year is the NCAA wants the refs to call games closer,” Bibby said. “Eliminate a lot of pushing and shoving. All the stoppages made it hard to get into a flow tonight, but the referees did the best job they could do. It was up to us to adjust.”