Trojans Step Ahead in Overtime

Henry Bibby’s search for a leader continues.

Not known for being satisfied with and doling out compliments to his players, the USC basketball coach was careful with his words after the Trojans survived an overtime scare at San Diego, 71-67, Thursday night.

USC (7-2) played in frustrating spurts again but came back from seven points down in the second half in front of 4,112 at Jenny Craig Pavilion against the Toreros (5-4).

“We’re still looking for somebody to step up,” Bibby said. “But we played together the last 12 minutes as well as we have all year. We’re still searching for [that leader] but we had some guys play really hard.”

Among them: senior small forward David Bluthenthal, who had his first double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 12 rebounds in 41 minutes before fouling out; junior point guard Robert Hutchinson, who came off the bench to spark a stagnant offense down the stretch with six points and two assists in 24 minutes; and senior power forward Sam Clancy, who woke up in time to become a force in the post in overtime. He had his fifth double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman guard Errick Craven led the Trojans with 13 points, including four three-point shots. Sophomore guard Desmon Farmer, battling stomach flu symptoms, had 12 points, including an 18-foot shot from the key with 34 seconds remaining in overtime, and the shot clock expiring, to give the Trojans a 70-67 lead.

Torero senior guard Andre Laws, who entered the game as the nation’s No. 16 scorer with a 22.6-point average, had a game-high 21 against USC, but was six of 15 from the field.

“It was a good win for us,” said Bluthenthal, who also had three steals and joined USC’s career 1,000-point club. He has 1,008 points and passed Joe Mackey for 25th place on the scoring list.

“It was a little closer than Bibby would have liked it but a win’s a win,” Bluthenthal added.

Bluthenthal, mired in a season-long shooting slump and a frequent resident of Bibby’s doghouse, did not come off the court until he fouled out in overtime and played with a renewed passion.

“I can’t hit a shot to save my life but I can play hard, play defense and get rebounds every night.”

Trailing, 38-36, at the half, USC went nearly five minutes without a score to start the second half and would get only two field goals for the first nine minutes of the half as the Toreros went up by a game-high seven points, 47-40.

Enter Hutchinson.

With the junior directing the offense, the Trojans went on a 12-4 run to grab their first lead of the second half, 52-51, following a Rory O’Neil three-point play at the 7:58 mark.

The game went into overtime at 61-61.

After Bluthenthal fouled out 59 seconds into overtime, Bibby employed a four-guard lineup--Brandon Granville, Hutchinson, Craven and Farmer--with Clancy in the middle to finish it out.

USC limited San Diego to one-of-seven shooting in the extra period.

Hutchinson’s play down the stretch was a major reason and was reminiscent of how he stepped up against Boston College in the NCAA tournament last spring, when he made five of six free throws in the final 77 seconds of the Trojans’ 74-71 victory.

“That’s kind of my trademark,” Hutchinson said, “to make big-time free throws and play well in pressure situations.

“That’s what Coach Bibby expects out of his back-up point guard, to step in and not miss a beat. A point guard is the quarterback of the team and has to lead by example and verbally.”