Voice-Activated Trojans Just Might Have Final Say

This great college basketball game was about USC’s passion and Arizona’s precision.

It was about Sam Clancy sacrificing every ounce of energy and some pieces of flesh to grab a basketball when three Wildcats were trying to keep it from him. It was about Jason Gardner, the stealth shooter, making perfect cuts and running to the perfect spot to make three-pointer after three-pointer.

It was about USC’s frantically active full-court pressure and Arizona’s calm recovery from the turnovers the pressure caused. It was about David Bluthenthal’s carefree optimism about finding his shooting rhythm and Luke Walton’s quiet pursuit of the best way around Trojan defenders--pass or shoot, three-pointer or layup.

What an amazing college basketball game was played at the Sports Arena on Saturday afternoon. On the line was first place in the Pacific 10 and on the court were two teams desperate for a late-season victory, the kind of victory that makes a team dangerous from now until the end of March.

Arizona had arrived in Southern California in first place. The Wildcats left with two devastating losses, by a point to UCLA on Thursday and by 94-89 to USC on Saturday. Yet while watching Arizona’s fearless freshmen react with anger and confidence after both losses, and seeing how Lute Olson has made a young team improve every game, it is clear that when they return to Los Angeles for the Pac-10 tournament next month, the Wildcats will be ready.

But it was the Trojans who made their best and biggest noise of the season. They swept their two home games, beating Arizona State badly, as they should have, and beating Arizona any way they could, as they should have.

Through so many last-second losses--to UCLA, to Oregon, to California--the Trojans have never lost their way, and with this victory, they’ve found their voice.

It is a loud voice, a defiant voice, a voice that shouts, “We will not go away. Stop us once, we’ll start again. Stop us twice, we’ll start over. And over. And over.”

After the game, the voices speak softly. There is no bragging, no swagger in the words. No one hops up on tables to shout at the fans or at the opponent. One must listen hard to hear Clancy say, “At no point in this game did I think we were going to lose.”

This tough senior, who had 21 points in the first half and 28 for the game, understood the best part of what happened Saturday afternoon. “This was one of the funnest games I’ve played all year because we were down and we came back to win.”

One must lean close to hear Coach Henry Bibby say, “It’s important to win every game. You’ve got to win the games at home. This weekend we did that.”

As emotional as the Trojans are when they play, they never let their feelings overwhelm them. When they lose leads, they expect to make up deficits. They understand they are not so good as to control every game, but good enough to have a chance to win every game.

Up by 12 in the first half, the Trojans were behind, 45-42, at halftime, but it didn’t matter. There was no loss of aggression, no time to stop forcing play. When the Wildcats did make it too tough for Clancy to fight his way to the basketball, Bluthenthal took his place at the front of the line. He got open shots, he made them. Three-pointers (seven of them), and then layups, enough for 31 points. Bluthenthal kept running to his ace three-point spot on the baseline and never hesitated with his shooting motion.

“This is what I’m supposed to do,” Bluthenthal said. “Play good and get some points.”

Much as they did in the first half, the Trojans went ahead early in the second half and then got behind, 69-62. Gardner was unstoppable, making three-pointers from everywhere. He had 14 against the two Southland teams.

There was some luck for the Trojans or Gardner might have had his 15th--and forced overtime. With three seconds left and USC leading, 92-89, Gardner hit a slick spot on the court just as he was about to shoot yet another three. The ball went in but traveling was called. On replay, it appeared Gardner’s pivot foot didn’t move and the basket should have counted. But it didn’t and USC hearts weren’t broken again.

The thing about USC hearts, though, is that after they break, they heal. USC has a team to be proud of. Whether the Trojans are playing poorly or well, they play hard. They will not get discouraged, they will not lose.

And there is the feeling right now that they will be carried far by three seniors--Clancy, Bluthenthal and Brandon Granville. Granville didn’t make a basket in the first half and only two in the second but he had 11 assists, no turnovers and made seven free throws in the last two minutes.

USC enters the last two weeks of the regular season tied for the Pac-10 lead. The conference tournament is in the Trojans’ hometown, at Staples Center. It appears their heads are on straight, their focus is clear.

Across town, their archrivals had suffered a bad loss to a team missing two of its top five scorers. That UCLA had fallen to Arizona State made no difference to the Trojans. At least that’s what they said and it was the right attitude.

Why think about anyone else when you’re in first place and somebody else isn’t?

The Trojans are in first place.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at diane.pucin@latimes.com.