Defeat Is Hard to Bear

USC really didn’t expect to go through the season unbeaten at home, but the Trojans didn’t expect that first loss to come Thursday, either.

When your game is flatter than week-old champagne, however, you should not expect to have a good taste in your mouth.

And the Trojans didn’t, falling to California, 66-62, before 5,587 at the Sports Arena.

The loss, the Trojans’ first in eight home games, dropped USC (12-7, 6-2) out of a tie for first in the Pacific 10 Conference with Stanford and Arizona.

It was not a loss to moan about “what ifs.” If the Trojans were looking for the culprit Thursday, all they had to do was look in a mirror.

Or at the stat sheet. It was all there: 40.7% field-goal shooting, three for 20 from three-point range (after a 20-for-29 performance Saturday against Oregon State), a 37-34 rebound deficit and a collective nine assists.

If Brian Scalabrine hadn’t shown up, the Trojans would have been blown out. Scalabrine had game highs of 25 points and nine rebounds. He made 10 of 16 shots. The rest of the Trojans combined were 12 for 38.

“I don’t think I played well,” Scalabrine said. “We didn’t play well. This is like the Oregon game last week [a 68-67 Duck victory]. We know we can’t come out flat and expect to win games.”

Maybe the Trojans were waiting for the Golden Bears, who had two freshmen and two sophomores among their starting five, to remember they were younger than spring time. Or that they were 1-4 in games decided by five points or fewer.

What they should have remembered most was Cal had a four-game winning streak against USC coming into the game, and has now won three of the last four games here.

The loss ended USC’s nine-game home winning streak dating to last season.

Shantay Legans and Nick Vander Laan, the two starting freshmen, led Cal with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

“Cal outplayed us in every phase of the game,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “They were more physical, quicker and executed better; they did everything to us that was possible. They deserved to win.

“I’m very disappointed. I thought we could win this game at home. After splitting on the road [in Oregon] you don’t want to lose the first home game of the weekend. But we were very flat. We came out with no energy.”

That was evident from the start. USC missed its first three shots, gave up a couple of offensive rebounds, and watched Cal (12-8, 3-5) bolt to a 7-0 lead.

The Trojans eventually caught the Bears at 13-13, but missed three chances to take the lead.

A pattern that would haunt them all night.

“Offensively we were out of sync tonight,” said David Bluthenthal, who scored only nine points before fouling out.

As the Trojans continued to misfire and mishandle the ball (11 first-half turnovers), the Bears’ confidence--if not their marksmanship (43.9% on the night)--continued to rise. Cal’s biggest lead reached 30-19 with 5:04 left in the half.

Trailing by nine with 3:27 left in the half, the Trojans shook themselves long enough to close with a 9-2 flourish and narrow Cal’s lead to 34-30.

The Trojans took their first lead, 40-38, at the 14:42 mark of the second half, but the Bears remained unruffled and moved back in front, 46-42, a couple of minutes later.

USC fought back one last time. A three-pointer by Nate Hair, who came back in the game after Bluthenthal fouled out, tied the score, 55-55, at 5:31. The Trojans stayed close down the stretch and, trailing 64-62 with 24 seconds to play, had a chance to win..

Guard Brandon Granville had the ball stolen from him, but he quickly tied up Vander Laan and got the ball back for USC with 17 seconds left. Cal made sure Scalabrine was not free, so the final shot went to Hair, who missed a three-point attempt with 1.2 seconds left.

Legans was fouled and made two free throws for the final score.

“It was a devastating feeling to miss,” Hair said. “I’ll make that shot nine times out of 10. But I kind of rushed it. I knew it would be short and ran after the ball, but I couldn’t catch up to it.”

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CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Team W-L

Stanford 7-1

Arizona 7-1

Oregon 6-2

USC 6-2

Arizona St. 4-4

UCLA 3-5

California 3-5

Oregon St. 2-6

Washington 2-6

Washington St. 0-8

NEW KID

ON BLOCK

Arizona’s Loren Woods ties NCAA record with 14 blocked shots in 77-71 victory over Oregon. Page 10

USC WOMEN

FEEL BLUE

Cal’s Paige Bowie, her hair dyed in the school color, scored 18 points in an 81-64 victory.

Page 10