Farmer: Loss Was a Lesson

USC had all kinds of trouble figuring out how to play Arizona. But the Trojans had no problem describing the kind of game they played Saturday.

“Our performance was pretty bad today,” Desmon Farmer said. “Arizona pushed us hard, and our results weren’t good enough. We weren’t together out there and the shots didn’t fall.

“For us to get to the NCAA tournament, we have to put this behind us, and go on to Oregon. Today was a lesson for us, and all we can do is learn from it.”

Sam Clancy, who didn’t make a basket for the first time as a Trojan since he was a freshman, said Arizona played more zone defense than when the teams met in Tucson. But that alone should not have kept him from making a shot.

“I never got into a groove today,” Clancy said. “I missed shots I normally make. I had two shots in the second half I thought were good, but they bounced in and out.”

Having scored only 12 points against Arizona State on Thursday, Clancy said, “This hasn’t been a good week for me. I just have to bounce back and get to where I was.”

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Gilbert Arenas, who attended Grant High in Van Nuys, loves to remind USC and UCLA what they could have had if they had tried harder to recruit him two years ago.

After waxing the Bruins for 30 points Thursday, Arenas came back with 27 against the Trojans.

“USC did a little recruiting at the beginning,” Arenas said. “But they signed two shooing guards [one being Nate Hair] and then they tried to sign me. So I wasn’t coming here. And UCLA didn’t [try to recruit him].”

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Scalabrine’s 20 points raised his career total to 1,320, moving him past Gus Williams for eighth place on the Trojans’ all-time list.

UP NEXT

* Thursday at Oregon State, 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net--The Beavers, trying to break a three-game losing streak against the Trojans, are 2-4 at home this season.