Logical Theory Ducked

Sam Clancy was going on about how a team that has already beaten another twice in a season has an intimidation factor working in its favor.

The USC senior power forward and Pacific 10 Conference player of the year was referring to the domination the Trojans enjoyed over Stanford, which they had just thumped, 103-78.

When asked then if Oregon, the Trojans’ next opponent, which had swept them this season by a combined six points, held a similar psychological advantage over USC, Clancy was quick to change course.

“They stole two [games] from us,” he said. “They stole two from us and we’re coming to get one back.”

Sophomore reserve forward Jerry Dupree was also looking for a little payback.

“We owe them big time,” he said. “They took two from us and the Pac-10 title and we can’t let them take the tournament from us too.”

Desmon Farmer said the Trojans also have an ulterior motive.

“We feel bad because we feel like we cost our coach [Henry Bibby] the Pac-10 coach of the year [award],” he said, “because we lost those games to them and lost the title.”

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Stanford’s players considered whether the mixed feelings about playing in the Pac-10 tournament affected the team’s performance.

“The only thing I have to say to that is maybe we don’t know how to approach it mentally yet,” guard Tony Giovacchini said. “This is the first time in the four years of mine that I’ve played in a tournament. It was exciting. It was nice. They did a really nice job of putting it on.

“[But] usually at this point in the season we’re ready for Selection Sunday or we’re playing our last Pac-10 game. Maybe there’s a mental adjustment we’ve got to figure out in terms of, OK, regular season, postseason.”

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Who is Gregg Guenther Jr. and what was he doing in the USC starting lineup?

Not much, considering he played three minutes, missed his only shot, and picked up two fouls.

Actually, Guenther is a football player. At 6 feet 8, 250 pounds, he is a USC tight end who has sat out most of his first two seasons because of back problems.

But he was also a standout basketball player at Taft High. Needing muscle, Bibby added him to the basketball team Dec. 31.

Bibby has started him three times this year against teams with big centers, and the Trojans are 2-1 with him in the lineup, so don’t laugh.

In those games, he has taken three shots and missed all three. But he has also grabbed six rebounds, so that’s why Bibby keeps using him.

Right?

“I’m not really sure what he does,” Bibby said with a smile before the game.

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USC swept Stanford in three games this season by a total of 52 points.

“For the most part, I felt like everyone sort of wanted to redeem themselves for losing by 20 at home and losing to them the first time,” guard Julius Barnes said. “It didn’t transfer to the floor.

“This is definitely the best I’ve seen them play. This is probably the best I’ve seen any team play.”

In an unusual statistic, Stanford outrebounded USC, 51-31.

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Stanford’s loss left the Cardinal with a 19-9 record and a little nervousness about Selection Sunday.

With a No. 30 RPI rating before Thursday’s loss and road victories over UCLA and Arizona, Stanford should be OK.

The seeding for the Cardinal will suffer, however.

“As long as we don’t draw USC in the NCAAs, we should be fine,” Casey Jacobsen said.

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Staff writers Paul Gutierrez, Bill Plaschke and Robyn Norwood contributed to this report.