USC’s Marginal Effort Is One for the Books

Maybe the USC Trojans just aren’t morning people.

Maybe they had the same pregame meal the Clippers had Friday in Philadelphia.

Or maybe they aren’t as good as they think they are.

That’s what the Trojans have to be wondering after being thrashed by Arizona, 105-61, in a Pacific 10 Conference game Saturday before 7,345 in the Sports Arena and a national television audience.

It wasn’t the worst loss in school history; you have to go back to 1914, when the Trojans were blown out, 77-14, by those legends of the Los Angeles Athletic Club. But it was the worst-ever home loss, supplanting the 99-62 loss to UCLA in 1966, and the fourth-largest margin of defeat an opponent has plastered on USC.

The 105 points were the most scored by a USC opponent in the Sports Arena. And if the eighth-ranked Wildcats (18-7, 10-3) had wanted to, they could have surpassed the opponent-record 111 points Stanford scored against USC last year in Palo Alto.

USC fell to 17-7 overall, 7-5 in the Pac-10.

“There’s nothing we can take from this game,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “Take the loss and be happy that it wasn’t by 60. Any time you lose by this kind of margin, you’re embarrassed. We weren’t ready to play and they made shots.”

Didn’t they, though.

Arizona shot 53.6% from the field. The Wildcats were unconscious from the three-point line, making 14 of 19. Guard Gilbert Arenas, who made his first eight shots before Desmon Farmer blocked his last attempt, led all scorers with 27 points, followed by forward Michael Wright with 23.

“It just goes to show you what happens when you shoot the ball well,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “We looked great out there today. USC is a very good team; I like their balance and they play well together. Today was just a case where we couldn’t miss a shot and they couldn’t buy a shot.”

The Wildcats, ahead 46-23 at halftime, made sure they would not get swept in Los Angeles for the first time since 1997. They employed a variety of zone defenses that bottled up USC on the inside while contesting the Trojans’ outside shooting as much as possible.

The result? USC made only six of 34 attempts in the first half (17.6%), and shot a season-low 29.9% (20 of 67) on the day. Arizona owned the boards as well, 48-31.

If Brian Scalabrine, who led the Trojans with 20 points despite making only four of 15 shots, had gotten lost on his way to the arena for the 11 a.m. start, the Trojans might have had trouble cracking double figures.

Sam Clancy, the Trojans’ leading scorer, didn’t make a basket for the first time since his freshman season (0 for 6 from the field) and scored three points. Jeff Trepagnier contributed four points. Brandon Granville had five points (and no assists for the first time as a Trojan). David Bluthenthal had seven.

Farmer came off the bench to score 14 points, but most of that came in the second half when the result was no longer in question. Well, actually the result was no longer in question in the first half.

“We only had two guys come to play today--Brian and Desmon,” Bibby said. “You do that against a top team and you see what happens. We’ve been an up-and-down team all season. I thought we would be pretty good today, but we didn’t respond.

“To drop a home game this way is pretty deflating. It can’t be any worse than this. Maybe today was the time I should have gotten ejected.”

Statistically, at least, the Trojans and Wildcats came into the game fairly even in conference play. In scoring, Arizona (80.5) was third and USC (79.5) fourth. In field-goal percentage USC (47.2%) was third and Arizona (46.7%) fourth. In three-point shooting, the Trojans (34.9%) ranked fifth and the Wildcats (34.6%) were sixth.

But it was apparent from the outset that USC still doesn’t measure up.

With 10 minutes gone in the first half, USC was already down, 23-9. The Trojans had only three baskets--an outside jumper by Trepagnier, and two layups by Scalabrine.

It would only get worse unless the Trojans could find at least one hot hand from the outside to stretch the Wildcat defense.

It got worse.

By the 5:25 mark, Arenas had more points (15) than the Trojans (14). By halftime, the Wildcats lead had surged into the 20s, and USC would equal its lowest first-half output of the season; it also scored only 23 points against Brigham Young on Dec. 23.

On that balmy Hawaiian evening, the Trojans were able to come all the way back from a 20-point deficit.

But that was in a game the Trojans will always remember.

Saturday was a game they will try to forget.

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Oh No, Henry

The 105-61 loss to Arizona on Saturday was the worst USC has suffered with Henry Bibby, left, as coach. The Trojans’ most-lopsided losses since Bibby took over at the end of the 1995-96 season:

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MARGIN (SCORE) OPPONENT SEASON 44 (105-61) Arizona ‘00-01 43 (111-68) at Stanford ‘99-00 37 (99-62) at Stanford ‘97-98 30 (73-43) California ‘97-98 30 (99-69) at Stanford ‘95-96 29 (107-78) at Kansas ‘98-99

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