Thundering Heard Again

There were more than seven minutes remaining in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament semifinal Friday night when Sam Clancy picked up his fourth foul.

USC held a tenuous five-point lead over Oregon, and there was no question in Trojan Coach Henry Bibby’s mind what he should, or rather, should not do.

“I never thought about taking Sam out of the game,” Bibby said. “I had eight other people telling me to take him out. Sam got us here. Sam’s going to stay in games.”

So Clancy stayed on the floor. The senior power forward’s imposing presence in the paint allowed the Trojans to add to their lead and USC avenged two earlier losses to the No. 9 Ducks with an 89-78 victory in front of a near-sellout crowd at Staples Center.

The 22nd-ranked Trojans (22-8) will meet No. 15 Arizona (21-9) today at 3 p.m. in the title game.

Clancy, the Pac-10 player of the year, had 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes. He had no doubt that Bibby would let him be after being called for his fourth foul.

“I knew they were going to leave me in the game,” he said. “They learned from their mistake the last time. I just had to just stand there.”

In their previous meeting with the regular-season champion Ducks (23-8) eight days earlier, USC blew an 11-point lead with 11 minutes to play after Clancy picked up his fourth foul.

“If he goes out, we’re in a tough situation again,” Trojan forward David Bluthenthal said. “But he stayed in and he played a great game. He played smart and hung in there.”

USC had six players in double figures, the second consecutive game the Trojans had at least five do that.

Senior point guard Brandon Granville and sophomore guard Desmon Farmer led the Trojans with 17 points apiece, with Granville scoring 12 in the second half and Farmer adding six rebounds and three steals.

Granville also had nine assists and two steals, and freshman shooting guard Errick Craven had 14 points and two steals.

Bluthenthal, who entered the game a combined four of 23 from the field against Oregon, was only two of seven Friday but made all nine of his free-throw attempts to finish with 13 points after starting at power forward.

Sophomore Jerry Dupree started at small forward, his fourth start of the season, and had 12 points, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Bibby said he didn’t decide to start Dupree until about an hour before the game, citing better matchups with the run-and-gun Ducks, the league’s highest-scoring team.

Dupree, who came off the bench along with Farmer to spark the Trojans in their 103-78 first-round victory over Stanford on Thursday, has had an awakening after a frustrating regular season.

“It was about working hard every single day,” Dupree said. “It was a reality check.”

The Trojans administered one to Oregon, which held a 44-31 lead with 2:55 remaining in the half.

Enter Farmer.

He began attacking the zone with daring drives to the basket, scoring 11 of USC’s 13 points in a 3:40 span to get the previously stagnant Trojan offense going.

“We had to penetrate the zone and somebody had to step up,” Farmer said.

In limiting the Ducks to one field goal in the last 4:50 of the half, USC had cut its deficit to three points entering halftime.

But after Oregon upped its lead to seven, 66-59, with 12:54 left, USC took off again.

The Trojans ran the weary Ducks off the court with a 14-2 run that ended with Clancy’s fourth foul, rekindling images of the Trojans blowing a shot at a league title eight days earlier.

It wouldn’t happen this time, not with Clancy playing a more relaxed brand of ball and Dupree playing as if he belonged in the lineup all along.

“The bottom line is [Clancy] can’t get a [fifth] foul,” Bibby said. “He knew it and I knew it.

“He backed off on the defensive end and Jerry picked up the slack on the other side.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

TOURNAMENT BREAKDOWN

FIRST ROUND

No. 1 Oregon 86, No. 8 Washington 64

No. 4 USC 103, No. 5 Stanford 78

No. 2 Arizona 73, No. 7 Arizona State 56

No. 3 California 67, No. 6 UCLA 61

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SEMIFINALS

No. 4 USC 89, No. 1 Oregon 78

No. 2 Arizona 90, No. 3 California 78

FINAL--TODAY (3 p.m., Ch. 2)

No. 4 USC (22-8) vs.

No. 2 Arizona (21-9)

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FRIDAY’S TOP PERFORMERS

Errick Craven, USC

* One of six Trojans in double figures, freshman guard scores 16 points, including some dazzling drives.

Jason Gardner, Arizona

* Junior guard ties Cal’s Joe Shipp for game scoring honors with 25 points, making eight of 14 shots.