It’s Trojans Who Go to Head of the Classic

It wasn’t a classic, but USC still got what it was looking for Saturday.

A name win. A victory over a team people had heard of. A team that has an NCAA tournament pedigree, even though that pedigree is devalued at the moment.

In grinding out a 65-60 victory over 18th-ranked Utah in the Wooden Classic, before 15,286 at the Arrowhead Pond, No. 15 USC did more than stay unbeaten at 4-0. The Trojans, off to their best start since winning their first six games in 1998, rose to the occasion before a national television audience.

“It was important to get the win today because we’re in a position where we’ve had a little success,” Brian Scalabrine said. “If we lose and drop out of the top 25, there’s no guarantee we’ll get back in.”

Scalabrine led USC with 18 points, scoring 13 in the first half to carry the Trojans to a 30-25 lead. He looked for the support to catch up. It came from David Bluthenthal, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Sam Clancy, who added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Utah (4-2) was led by Phil Cullen, who scored 18 points.

While USC was unable to land a big punch on Utah offensively, the cardinal-and-gold Trojans had their blue collars on when it came to defense. They kept the Utes shooting at an icy 36.7% for the game (while shooting 45.1% themselves) and forced 17 turnovers. That negated Utah’s 44-34 rebounding edge.

“This was probably our best defensive game so far this season,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “Defense has been our weakness, and it was my concern today. When we get to Pac-10, the conference is so strong that to be a contender you have to play defense every night.

“I thought we jumped out on them in the beginning, but lost some intensity as the game went on. But we got some big rebounds down the stretch, made some shots down the stretch, and got a couple of big stops when we needed them.”

Scalabrine could not have known he would start out so well, making five of his first seven shots. He certainly could not gone by the pregame warmups, when he missed nearly every shot he tried.

But Bibby called a play for Scalabrine to start the game, and the senior center swished a three-pointer. Just like that, Big Red was red hot.

“Coach Bibby has always trusted me,” Scalabrine said. “I really like the faith he has in me that I come to play every day. He called that first play for me, and making that first basket got me going.”

It was the last thing acting Utah Coach Dick Hunsaker wanted to see.

“We talked about Brian and not letting him get off to an early start,” Hunsaker said. “But we couldn’t stop him.”

Still, Utah was down only 35-33 when Clancy blocked a shot by Chris Burgess but barreled into him for a foul with 13:57 to play. Burgess would miss both free throws and USC took off on its longest sustained run of the game, outscoring the Utes, 27-16, over the next 10 minutes.

Bluthenthal started the rally with back-to-back three-pointers.

“Dave got us going in the second half offensively,” Jarvis Turner said. “And Sam’s block on Burgess put a charge in the guys. Even though they called a foul on him, it got us motivated.

“But most of all, the guys wanted to win tonight. We had a point to prove. And we went out there and proved it.”

It didn’t come easy. Utah made one last charge at USC with a 10-1 spurt to close within 63-60 with 20 seconds left. But that was the Utes’ last gasp.

And for the Trojans, a big sigh of relief.

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WOODEN CLASSIC

DIANE PUCIN

Wooden is in better shape than the Bruins are. D2

SORRY, COACH

He wishes the Wizard hadn’t seen this. D13

HURRY BACK

Trepagnier is missed by unbeaten Trojans. D13