Bibby Critical of Bruins

Coach Henry Bibby has an inkling as to what to expect from UCLA on Thursday night when his Trojans play the Bruins at the Forum in a matchup of the Pacific 10 Conference’s lone 4-0 teams.

“UCLA normally sets the tone by coming out and using the old iron-fist tactics, where they take one or two [hard] fouls at the beginning,” Bibby said Tuesday at his weekly media luncheon. “They come out and throw a couple of elbows and throw a couple of guys down and get away with it every year.”

Bibby was referring to two fouls in the teams’ first meeting a year ago at Pauley Pavilion, when UCLA point guard Earl Watson knocked Trojan forward David Bluthenthal into the scorer’s table and Bruin center Dan Gadzuric leveled USC guard Desmon Farmer on a breakaway dunk attempt.

“And nothing was done about that and they come out and do that every year to start the game off and we’re the ones to get penalized,” Bibby said. “Lou [Campanelli, the Pac-10’s coordinator of men’s basketball officiating] is going to be here for the game and hopefully it doesn’t start off like that again.”

After setting the tone, UCLA took a nine-point lead before holding on for an 80-75 victory.

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Campanelli said Tuesday, that after reviewing tape of an “elbowing” incident at Washington on Dec. 27, no action will be taken. USC had filed a grievance, claiming two Trojans were hit by errant elbows.

Campanelli said the tape shows USC forward Jerry Dupree setting an illegal screen on Washington freshman forward Jeffrey Day. He added that Dupree basically ran into Day’s elbow and, as a result, Dupree’s head bounced back into Errick Craven’s right eye.

“It was basically self-defense on the part of the Washington player,” Campanelli said. “The screener has to give the cutter time and distance [when setting a screen].”