Splitting Headache

Anetta Harris was breathless and in a near sprint as she bounded to the USC bench.

Sam Clancy’s mother, who had arrived from Cleveland two days earlier, was unfamiliar with Los Angeles traffic patterns. She was so late to the Sports Arena Saturday that she nearly missed taking the walk to midcourt with her son, who was being recognized as one of USC’s four fourth-year players during pregame senior day festivities.

But with the crowd of 7,012, standing and chanting “MVP, MVP, MVP” at her son, a sense of calm and pride came over Harris, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in the fall and was about to see her oldest son play in person for the first time in Los Angeles.

She had a great view as Clancy and two young party-crashers, freshman Errick Craven and sophomore Desmon Farmer, led the 19th-ranked Trojans to a 79-45 demolition of hapless Oregon State.

USC (20-8 overall, 12-6 in the Pacific 10), which lost a shot at the conference title when it lost to Oregon on Thursday night, finished in a four-way tie for second place with Arizona, California and Stanford and will be seeded fourth in the Pac-10 tournament. The Trojans will meet fifth-seeded Stanford Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Staples Center.

The Trojans have won at least 20 games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1938-39 and 1939-40. And their 44 victories the past two seasons are the most they’ve ever had over a two-year period, eclipsing their 43 victories in 1990-91 (19) and 1991-92 (24).

Clancy, Craven and Farmer made it happen on a day when USC Coach Henry Bibby emptied his bench and got 15 players into the game.

“To get everybody involved keeps everybody in harmony,” Bibby said. “That’s good for the team.”

Especially with the way USC has lost games this year.

A slew of last-second defeats--the Trojans lost four games on buzzer-beating shots, three of them in conference play--cost USC a shot at its first league title in 17 years. The heartbreakers, the latest of which was the 67-65 loss to first-place Oregon, hurt the team mentally as well as statistically.

Things were different Saturday, though, as the Trojans were yucking it up on the sidelines, cheering, waving towels and hugging as the final seconds ticked away.

While Craven started with seniors Clancy, David Bluthenthal, Gennaro Busterna and Brandon Granville, Farmer came off the bench against Oregon State.

“I wouldn’t point fingers or anything like that, but there was a lot of negative energy in the locker room after Thursday,” said Craven, who had 20 points with eight rebounds and a career-high seven steals against the Beavers.

“After today, it’s all positive. ... This game brought us together.”

The 45 points the newly happy Trojans allowed the ninth-place Beavers (12-17, 4-14) tied the lowest scoring output allowed in a Pac-10 game this season.

Farmer emerged from a slump by getting 17 points, six rebounds and three steals in 20 minutes. In his previous seven games he had scored a combined 20 points.

The Trojans, who posted their most conference victories since the 1996-97 season, had 18 steals and limited the Beavers to 29.8% shooting. USC also grabbed a season-high 54 rebounds.

Clancy had 20 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks to cement his status as a leading candidate for Pac-10 player-of-the-year honors.

Harris, who was late because she had to pick up her daughter from the airport, was impressed.

“I have three children, but this is the most proud I’ve been,” said Harris, who is scheduled to undergo her fifth chemotherapy treatment Wednesday.

“It meant a lot to see them out there,” said Clancy. “Just to see them there ... meant everything.”

Clancy, whose grade-point average dipped below 2.0 after the fall semester, dropping him from Wooden Award consideration, acknowledged this week that news of his mother’s illness was a factor in his grades slipping.

“I think he was in a state of shock that his mother may have been leaving him,” Harris said. “But I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to miss a beat. He’s my hero.”