Stunned and Stunner

A sickening sense of deja vu began to envelop the Sports Arena late Saturday afternoon.

With USC clutching a narrow lead, its desperate opponent began banking in three-point shots and chucking in off-balance three-pointers to close the gap.

“I was just thinking, ‘Here we go again,’” Trojan forward David Bluthenthal said, referring to USC’s three losses this season on buzzer-beating three-pointers. “I was just praying that they’d start missing some threes.”

And the knot in the Trojans’ stomachs began to grow larger when Arizona point guard Jason Gardner, who had already knocked down seven three-point baskets, sprinted the ball up court with less than seven seconds to play and USC up by three.

But in what has already been a surreal and heart-wrenching season for the Trojans, Gardner, in trying to shake Brandon Granville, slipped at the top of the key and was called for traveling. Gardner’s three-point attempt was good, but the whistle had already blown the play dead, awarding possession to USC.

On the ensuing inbound play, Sam Clancy found a streaking Errick Craven and the freshman guard threw down an uncontested and emphatic dunk for the final points in No. 25 USC’s 94-89 victory against the ninth-ranked Wildcats.

Finally, Lady Luck and her cousin Karma were wearing cardinal and gold and they sat two deep atop a high-stepping Traveler and pranced around before a spent crowd of 12,573.

With the victory and weekend sweep of the Arizona schools, USC improved to 18-6 overall and 10-4 in the Pacific 10 and into a first-place tie with Stanford and Oregon in the jumbled conference standings. Arizona fell to 17-8, 10-5.

“It’s important to win every game,” said Trojan Coach Henry Bibby, who won his 100th game at USC, dismissing the notion that finally winning a game that was in doubt until the final buzzer was more important than merely getting a victory.

“It’s important to win your games at home. This weekend, we did that.”

It wouldn’t have been possible without huge games by USC’s three seniors--Bluthenthal, Clancy and Granville, who had beaten Arizona only once in their careers and had dropped the previous two games against the Wildcats by a combined 61 points.

Bluthenthal, emerging from his season-long slump, had a career-high 31 points with career bests in three-pointers (7) field goals (12) and field-goal attempts (19).

Clancy (28 points, 11 rebounds), had his 10th consecutive double-double, the most at USC since Ron Riley had 13 in a row over the 1970 and 1971 season. Clancy also had three assists and two blocks.

Granville, who had been held scoreless in Arizona’s 97-80 victory at Tucson last month, finished with 12 points--all in the second half--11 assists and no turnovers in 39 minutes. Granville made seven of eight free throws in the final 49.8 seconds to help secure the victory.

“With the combination of Clancy and Bluthenthal, they have perhaps the best pair of big men in the conference,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said.

“Bluthenthal spreads you out and Clancy’s inside presence is huge. I thought Granville.... didn’t shoot well but he.... really led them well.”

In a game that mirrored the Trojans’ season thus far, USC was brilliant before sputtering. And then after going stagnant on offense, they exploded to the finish.

Bolstered by a mix of matchup zone defenses, USC flustered Arizona into a rash of turnovers while building a 12-point lead in the first half. The Wildcats, though, raced back to take a three-point lead, 45-42, into halftime on a three-pointer by Gardner, who finished with an Arizona-high 27 points.

And after running out to a 62-56 lead five minutes into the second half, USC went scoreless for more than five minutes. Arizona took off, going on a 13-0 run in three minutes to grab a seven-point lead, 69-62, with 11:33 remaining.

Enter Bluthenthal, who scored 10 of the Trojans’ 12 points during a 3:25 spurt. USC led by six, 85-79, with 1:17 to play after two of Robert Hutchinson free throws.

That’s when Arizona began dredging up USC’s worst fears, Rick Anderson banking in an ugly-looking three-pointer from 22 feet away with 40.7 seconds to play and Salim Stoudamire throwing in a wild off-balance three-pointer from the right corner with 7.7 seconds remaining.

But Granville was busy at the free-throw line.

“I’m just thinking, ‘Make the free throws and we win. We’ve come this far, don’t mess it up now,’” Granville said. “You just block it out of your mind and let your body take over.”

And hope that Lady Luck and Karma are finally sitting on your bench.