USC Is Pushed Aside by Brigham Young

The last time USC met Brigham Young, in the third-place game of the 2000 Yahoo Sports Invitational at Laie, Hawaii, Trojan Coach Henry Bibby was slapped with two technical fouls and ejected.

He should have gotten himself kicked out of Saturday night’s game as well.

Because although the Trojans were able to rally from a 20-point second-half deficit to pull out a victory in Hawaii, they were punished severely in the Beehive State.

BYU and its senior center, the 6-foot-11, 280-pound Rafael Araujo, had their way with USC in an 85-61 victory in front of 15,688 at the Marriott Center. It was BYU’s 38th consecutive nonconference home victory.

The physical Araujo finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds, but perhaps the Brazilian big man’s most impressive number was the one foul he was charged with -- it didn’t come until there were 8 minutes 52 seconds remaining.

“We haven’t played against a guy as good as this big kid,” said Bibby, who actually was charged with a technical foul early. “He’s the best big guy I’ve seen ... since I’ve been here. We had no answer for him.”

Said Araujo: “It was just another game. I was really focused tonight.

USC center Rory O’Neil and forward Nick Curtis each participated in the Pete Newell Big Man Camp last summer, as did Araujo, but neither of the Trojans remembered him.

They have lasting memories of him now.

“He’s a big player, good hands, good feet, strongest guy I’ve played against,” said O’Neil, a finesse player who, nonetheless, fouled out with 5:15 to play. “He’s a load. He killed us down there.”

USC (3-3) utilized a trapping man-to-man defense early to fuel its transition game, and when the Trojan guards fed the ball to their post players, they enjoyed success.

Freshman guard Rodrick Stewart led USC with a career-high 14 points -- he cannot speak to the media because of a gag order by Bibby -- but O’Neil and power forward Jeff McMillan shot a combined nine for 11 from the field, each scoring 10 points. USC outscored BYU in the paint, 32-28, giving the impression that its backcourt became impatient.

“Mentally we broke down,” said junior guard Errick Craven, who had nine points, six rebounds and six assists without a turnover. “We got down and then we panicked.”

After Bibby received the technical foul by referee Shawn Lehigh for complaining loudly about Araujo’s seeming penchant for camping out in the lane for longer than three seconds, USC embarked on an 11-3 run and held a six-point lead with 10:48 left in the first half.

But just as suddenly, USC went cold and got in foul trouble. The Cougars, meanwhile, were able to set up their half-court offense.

BYU (6-1) took off on a 19-1 run over the next five-plus minutes, with Araujo scoring 10 of BYU’s first 13 points of the spurt.

“Once we could get them to start taking jump shots, we were able to stop their dribble and their penetration as well as their post touches,” Coach Steve Cleveland. “And then we got control of the game.”

USC got no closer than 12 points and trailed by as many as 27.

The Trojans made a season-low four free throws, on 14 tries, and shot 25% (five for 20) from three-point territory. They committed 19 turnovers.

“I don’t think we were focused to play,” Bibby said. “It’s tough to play here and ... we played a tournament team tonight.”