They Were Rally Good Against BYU

One third of their season is complete. And what have the Trojans learned so far?

They can score against most teams even though, collectively, they haven’t found a groove offensively. They play defense in spurts. Their rebounding is spotty and they have had trouble maintaining a lead.

But they are finding ways to win.

In 10 games, the 13th-ranked Trojans have trailed in six of them, including all three of their Yahoo! Sports Invitational tournament games. They are 4-0 when trailing at halftime. And they are 1-0 when trailing with five minutes left in the game.

The comeback with five minutes remaining came Saturday against Brigham Young. The Trojans were trailing by 20 points in the second half before overtaking the Cougars with 3:17 left to play.

“At halftime [trailing, 41-23] we saw this game as shaping our whole season,” guard Brandon Granville said. “If we get blown out and lose two in a row in Hawaii, that changes the whole year.”

Sam Clancy, whose 20 second-half points were the catalyst for the comeback, said Coach Henry Bibby’s halftime talk jolted the Trojans from their first-half lethargy.

“He really got on us about playing like punks,” Clancy said. “After that, we wanted it more. We had lost a tough game the night before and we knew we couldn’t have two in a row like that. We want to go into [the Pacific 10] conference playing our best basketball.

“I’m hoping this is a breakout game for us. To go on the road and play like we know we can play.”

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With 81 points in three games, Brian Scalabrine was the leading scorer of the tournament. The next highest was Brigham Young’s Mekeli Wesley, with 64 points. Scalabrine, Clancy and Wesley were named to the all-tournament team along with Paul Shirley and MVP Jamaal Tinsley of Iowa State, and Rahim Lockhart of Mississippi.