Craven Scores in a Flurry

Growing up in Carson, Errick Craven never took a winter trip to the mountains.

The USC freshman guard never built a snowman or made a snow angel.

Craven also had never scored more than 20 points for the Trojans.

That all changed Saturday.

Craven burned off some nervous energy before the game by engaging his twin brother Derrick and sophomore forward Jerry Dupree in a snowball fight outside the team hotel as a snow storm had just blanketed the area.

“That was the first time me and my brother had seen the snow,” Errick Craven said. “So we just went out there and had some fun.”

The high jinks for Craven and Co. continued later that afternoon as he led USC to a 78-63 victory in front of 2,219 at Friel Court, burying the Cougars in an avalanche of points, steals and rebounds and getting the Trojans off to a 2-0 start in Pacific 10 Conference play.

Craven finished with a career-high 29 points, six rebounds and a career-high six steals in a career-best 36 minutes.

“He dominated the game,” Trojan Coach Henry Bibby said. “He just dominated the game. I haven’t seen a player dominate a game like that in a while.

“He just kept going at them. He didn’t let up. It was the steals, the stepping in the gaps, going in for the layup, it’s all that.”

Craven made 13 of 19 shots from the field, including three of four from three-point territory.

“I was just going with the flow, the flow of the offense,” Craven said. “I was taking shots and they were going in.”

Washington State sophomore guard Marcus Moore, from Compton Dominguez High, was succinct in describing Craven’s afternoon.

“Best game of his life,” said Moore, who had a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists.

Sam Clancy just missed out on his seventh double-double of the season for the Trojans as the senior power forward had 18 points and nine rebounds in 40 minutes. He also had two assists and two steals but committed four turnovers.

Clancy, a semifinalist for the Wooden Award, also praised Craven.

“I don’t think he gets the recognition for being one of the top freshmen,” Clancy said. “But I’ll put him against any freshman in the country.”

The Trojans again used their full-court press to rattle the opposing team as USC ran out to a 12-point lead, 21-9, eight minutes into the game.

The Cougars began to solve the Trojan press, however, and pulled within four points, 39-35, late in the first half.

In the second half Washington State sagged on Clancy, freeing up the Trojans’ outside shooters.

With the Cougars within six, 46-40, early in the second half, USC pulled away as it began a stretch where four of the Trojans’ next six baskets were three-pointers, two by Craven and two by senior small forward David Bluthenthal.

At the 10-minute mark, Washington State began employing its own form of the press against USC. The Cougars were able to force turnovers, and a 7-0 run got them back within eight, 68-60, with just over four minutes to play.

But USC settled down and didn’t yield another Cougar field goal.

Washington State (4-6 overall, 0-2 in Pac-10) shot 40.7% from the field and made only four of 22 three-point attempts (18.2%).

USC (10-2, 2-0) shot 54.8% from the field, 43.8% (seven of 16) from three-point territory, and forced 15 turnovers while getting nine steals in beating the Cougars for the sixth time in a row.

Clancy and Craven accounted for 21 of the Trojans’ first 25 points.

Craven blushed when asked if he could be a dominant player on a team with three pivotal seniors in Clancy, Bluthenthal and point guard Brandon Granville.

“We have so many keys and great athletes that I don’t need to be a dominant player,” Craven said. “That’s not even a factor.”

Still, he knew his breakout game was coming.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it was going to happen now,” Craven said. “Maybe sometime ... down the road.”