Bibby Is Looking Ahead

There is plenty of basketball left this season, but Coach Henry Bibby also is thinking about next season.

If the Trojans are in a similar situation, with only five or six players for most of the game, Bibby said he will look for other ways to help keep the core group fresh as the season goes on.

“People keep asking, are we a couple of bodies short? Probably so,” Bibby said. “Eventually you look at that and say [all those minutes] could wear on guys.

“But I still feel we haven’t had tough practices. We’ve had a lot of time off. And we should be able to recuperate.”

Bibby said he plans to look more closely at the off-court habits of his players, specifically what they are eating and how much rest they are getting.

“My only concern: What are you doing off the court that makes you tired at this point in time when you’re not practicing two to three hours, you’re not traveling every week, and you have days off?” Bibby said.

“So I may get a nutritionist here next year to talk about the correct vitamins they need to have in their diets, the amount of sleep they need. We’ll talk about the scheduling of classes that will not conflict with the days they play. I want to do a better job of planning next year, of how we can help these kids reach their potential.”

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Sam Clancy, who broke his right foot a month ago but hopes to return next week, has started light jogging and some basketball-related workouts.

Clancy said he hopes to receive some orthopedic shoe inserts by Monday, then will try sprinting and lateral movement to see how the foot responds.

“The doctors want to see how I react to that,” Clancy said. “If I still have soreness in the area of the fracture, they’ll probably set me back.”

TONIGHT

vs. Oregon, 5

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Sports Arena.

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Records--USC 14-11, 7-6; Oregon 18-7, 9-5.

* Update--When asked if the Ducks’ weekend trip to Los Angeles was big, Coach Ernie Kent said: “I’ve been having conversations the last five weeks about it being a ‘huge’ weekend. Every weekend is tough.” Maybe so, but today’s meeting against USC got tougher for Oregon after losses to Washington and UCLA its last two games. The Trojans feel they owe the Ducks one after losing, 68-67, in Eugene. A win by USC puts it back in the scramble for an NCAA tournament bid.