USC Likes Its Chances

Play time’s over. Now comes the wait.

It should be a wait of anticipation, not anxiety.

USC has presented its case to the NCAA tournament committee the best way it can, winning its last three games, including Saturday’s 78-63 victory over Washington State before 4,074 at Friel Court.

The Trojans wrap up the season at 21-9, their most victories since going 24-6 in 1992. Their 11-7 conference record puts them in a tie for fourth in the Pac-10. They played hard and steady against a Washington State team that had little motivation going in. And by holding the Cougars without a field goal the opening 6:44 of the game, the Trojans never gave the Cougars a reason to be interested.

Sam Clancy busted loose for 27 points, his biggest game since scoring 28 against Arizona State on Jan. 18. David Bluthenthal scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half. Brian Scalabrine added 12 points and joined Bluthenthal in leading the Trojans in rebounds with nine.

Washington State, paced by Mike Bush’s 15 points, finishes 12-16 and 5-13 in the Pac-10.

“We have a lot more work to do,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said, smiling for one of the few times the past couple of weeks. “But this is where the fun of the basketball season starts. This is what we worked for all year, to put ourselves in position to get to the tournament, so I’m very pleased with that.

“Tomorrow’s another work day. We just have to find out where we have to go and who we’re gonna play. I have no idea where; the important thing was winning this game and setting the stage of how we wanted to go into the tournament.”

What USC wanted to do was avoid slipping up against a weaker team, and to bring the kind of defensive intensity it will need in the tournament. For the second consecutive game the Trojans kept the opposition under 40% from the field; Washington State made only 18 of 50 shots (36%) and was punished on the boards, 45-29.

“I thought the last two games have been the best defense we’ve played all season, with the exception of the Stanford game,” Bibby said. “We had a few breakdowns that cost a couple of baskets, but other than that we were pretty good.

“I like the momentum we have going in. I think the guys have been talking about the tournament and they’ve shown they deserve to be in it. We’ve had a pretty good stretch the past four to five games, and this is what I wanted. We had our lull, but we’re picking it back up again.”

By sweeping the Washington schools, the Trojans believe they can get a seventh or possible sixth seed when the NCAA committee makes its choices today.

Why not? The team’s RPI ranking will still be in the low 20s and it won four of its last five games.

“We definitely wanted to come up here and get two wins,” Bluthenthal said. “Now we’re pretty confident we’re in. We want a seventh seed, and hopefully these two wins will help us get it. I’m glad we finished strong because we know that’s one of the things they look at. I think right now our team is on the upswing, and we have a lot of confidence in each other.”

Clancy and the Trojans’ defense got USC off to the kind of start needed to keep the Cougars and the home crowd quiet.

Washington State did not make a field goal until Bush banged home a layup at the 13:16 mark. By that time Clancy, not having to fight through double- and triple-teams, had nine points. More importantly Clancy was shooting with the kind of confidence he had during the first half of conference play. He finished the first half making seven of 10 shots for 16 points. For the game, Clancy was 11 of 17.

“When we came into the gym for practice yesterday I was shooting well,” Clancy said. “But I needed this type of game in order to go into the tournament with my confidence. Now I feel the old Sam is getting back.

“Because they weren’t double-teaming me and Brian, we were able to attack them more on the inside. That’s what we want to do against everybody, because you can’t live off the three-point shot.”

USC had a 38-25 halftime advantage, which got as big as 76-53 before Bibby started clearing the bench.

“We didn’t have any emotion,” Cougar Coach Paul Graham said. “We were going through the motions. We got out-hustled, which hasn’t happened to us very often this year.

“I think all of the [top] five Pac-10 teams in the tournament can win some games. USC is a Sweet 16 team if things go right.”