Luke Fills Bill for Arizona

Henry Bibby admitted earlier this week that he didn’t know what to expect from rebuilding Arizona, which lost four starters to the NBA draft last summer.

But the USC coach never in his wildest dreams imagined what happened Thursday night at McKale Center, the Trojans’ personal House of Horrors.

In front of a sellout and raucous crowd of 14,574, the 18th-ranked Trojans saw their nine-game winning streak come to a crashing halt at the hands of No. 15 Arizona, 97-80.

The Wildcats were led by Luke Walton’s 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the first career triple-double for the son of Hall of Famer Bill Walton.

The Trojans were never really in it and, according to USC senior Sam Clancy, some of his teammates gave up in the middle of the game, which Arizona led by as many as 31 points.

“I hate to say that,” said Clancy, after claiming some Trojans quit.

Clancy had a season-high 30 points and 11 rebounds for his league-leading eighth double-double of the season.

“But I think coach did a good thing by playing a lot of the younger guys,” Clancy said.

Trojan sophomore Desmon Farmer had 13 points in 29 minutes off the bench.

Little-used senior guard Gennaro Busterna, who entered the game without a point in his two-year USC career, finished with 10 points in six minutes.

Freshman guard Derrick Craven also saw his first significant time of the season , scoring two points in 11 minutes.

But absent was production from senior starters Brandon Granville and David Bluthenthal, who combined for five points.

Granville was held scoreless for the first time since his sophomore year.

“Shots weren’t falling and our defense was atrocious,” Clancy said. “[Arizona forward Luke] Walton was having a field day like he was an All-American.”

Walton, barreling over people in the lane all game, was called for just one foul in a game-high 38 minutes.

With the 6-foot-8 Walton extremely active at the top of the key, USC had trouble with Arizona’s 3-2 zone defense to open the game.

The Trojans made just one of their first nine shots and committed three turnovers before the game was five minutes old.

USC made two of its first 22 shots and five of its first 29 before finishing the first half at nine for 35, 25.7%.

Arizona took a 10-0 lead fewer than three minutes into the game before USC answered with a mini-run to close the gap to six points, 11-5, following a Sam Clancy score at the 15:25 mark.

But the Wildcats began toying with the Trojans and went on a 23-4 run over the next nine-plus minutes.

The run gave Arizona a 27-point lead with six minutes still to play until halftime.

USC’s starting backcourt of Granville and freshman Errick Craven was a combined 0 for 10 from the field in the first half.

Arizona scored the first six points of the second half to go up by a game-high 31 points, 57-26, before Farmer hit a three-pointer.

“We knew they were going to play zone,” Bibby said. “Guys just didn’t step up and guys were out of position. We couldn’t stop them.

“I thought [Arizona] played well. You have to give them credit. They executed on both ends of the floor. They made us work and we didn’t have the patience on either end of the floor.”

Bibby wasn’t so sure, though, that Walton’s presence at the top of the key in the 3-2 zone was the determining factor.

“We did not penetrate and we did not drive so we played right into their hands,” Bibby said. “You could have put [Arizona Coach] Lute Olson out there [at the top of the zone] and it wouldn’t have mattered.”

USC (13-3, 5-1 in Pacific 10 Conference play) shot 32.9% from the field, 23.3% (7 of 30) from beyond the three-point stripe. The Trojans’ losing streak at Arizona reached 17 games.

Arizona (12-4, 5-2) made 54.4% of its shots, 40.0% (eight of 20) of its three-pointers.

USC outrebounded Arizona, 47-44.

Olson’s record against the Trojans at home improved to 18-1.

“We moved the ball the best that we have moved it all year long,” Olson said. “We did a great job of taking care of the ball until the last three minutes when we got a little sloppy.

“The only problem we had was that we didn’t get on some of their three-point shooters a few times. We gave up too many boards, but they are awfully tough on the offensive boards.”