Cal Poly Sinks Teeth Into Upset

All Kameron Gray wants for Christmas is his front right tooth.

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo point guard already has a victory over USC.

After losing the tooth on a foul late in the first half Monday night at the Sports Arena, the sophomore keyed the Mustangs’ late run to embarrass the Trojans, 93-78, before an announced crowd of 3,083.

“This was just about getting our respect,” said the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Gray, who had a game-high 32 points, 19 in the second half, and 12 rebounds. “I felt like they did [not respect us]. They did a lot of things that weren’t necessary. Things like pushing because I’m so light. But I have too much heart.”

He also has his second victory against a Pacific 10 Conference school, Cal Poly having defeated California in Berkeley in both schools’ season opener. Gray lost the same tooth against the Bears.

On a night in which USC was horrible from the free-throw line (13 of 25) and from beyond the three-point arc (three of 22), the Trojans still had a chance to win.

USC (4-4), which trailed by 17 points midway through the first half before going on a spirited run to tie the score at 32-32 and then take a 44-41 lead into halftime, blew an eight-point lead with just over 12 minutes left.

Jeff McMillan had scored with 12:17 left to give the Trojans a 56-48 advantage.

But then the Trojans reverted to their earlier-game selves, becoming careless with the ball and clueless with their shot selection.

Cal Poly (4-3) took advantage and raced off on a 19-2 run in just over five minutes to go up by nine points, 67-58, with 6:52 to play.

The Trojans crept back within four points on consecutive baskets by Desmon Farmer, a three-pointer and two free throws, but would get no closer.

“We just broke down,” said a soft-spoken Farmer, who led USC with 29 points, on 11-of-25 shooting, including three of 12 on three-point shots.

“Our defense fell apart. I just think our focus went away for whatever reason. This was a tough one.”

Memphis Grizzly General Manager Jerry West was in attendance and saw USC use a four-guard lineup -- Farmer, Lodrick Stewart and Derrick and Errick Craven, along with center Jonathan Oliver -- to fuel a furious rally late in the first half.

West was long gone though after USC blew a chance to ice the game early in the second half when the Trojans missed seven of their first eight free throws.

“We couldn’t make a free throw,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “We had the game. We should have put the game away. It just kills momentum when you miss free throws.

“That’s been our Achilles’ heel. We had them on the ropes.”

Instead, it was the Mustangs, led by the toothless Gray, who pulled the old rope-a-dope with the Trojans looking like dizzied dopes.

“I honestly don’t know what happened,” said junior point guard Derrick Craven. “The coaches seem to think that we started cruising.

“But they were hitting shots. I thought we had them, then they hit buckets.”

Said Bibby: “I think [we] wanted to go home for Christmas and were not thinking about basketball.”

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Senior guard Roy Smiley will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee next Tuesday -- a four-to-six week rehabilitation -- and said he wants to take a medical redshirt for this season and return next year.

“My thinking is that it will be too late [this] season to help the team,” Smiley said. “I could come back but then hurt the team’s chemistry.”

Smiley, though, said he had yet to speak with Bibby about his plan.

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UP NEXT

Sunday vs. Lafayette (8-1), 5 p.m. -- The Leopards, who play in the Patriot League, have defeated La Salle, Drexel and Princeton and have four starters back from a team that went 13-16 last season. It will be the first meeting between USC and Lafayette, whose lone loss was at Rutgers in its season opener.

-- Paul Gutierrez

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*--* Cal Poly SLO 93, USC 78

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*--* CAL POLY SLO Min FG-A FT-A R A P T Enzweiler 37 3-8 3-5 7 1 1 11 Schilling 38 9-19 3-4 6 3 4 24 Dennis 24 6-11 0-1 7 2 5 12 Jackson 23 1-3 3-4 2 0 1 5 Gray 40 8-13 13-14 12 2 3 32 Lisinac 9 2-2 2-2 4 0 1 6 Titchenal 19 0-2 0-0 2 1 1 0 Manley 10 0-2 3-3 2 0 2 3 Totals 200 29-60 27-33 45 9 18 93

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Shooting: Field goals, 48.3%; free throws, 81.8%

Three-point goals: 8-18 (Enzweiler 2-4, Schilling 3-5, Dennis 0-2, Jackson 0-1, Gray 3-5, Titchenal 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 1 (Dennis). Steals: 7 (Jackson 3, Gray 2, Schilling 1, Manley 1). Turnovers: 19 (Gray 6, Enzweiler 4, Jackson 4, Schilling 3, Dennis 2).

*--* USC Min FG-A FT-A R A P T McMillan 31 5-9 0-2 12 1 1 10 Farmer 37 11-25 4-6 2 3 5 29 O’Neil 16 0-3 0-0 3 0 1 0 Craven, E 31 5-8 3-4 5 0 3 13 Stewart, R 26 1-4 1-2 1 2 3 3 Stewart, L 26 6-16 2-6 4 2 4 14 Oliver 7 1-2 0-0 3 0 1 2 Craven, D 22 2-6 3-5 3 6 4 7 Buck 1 0-1 0-0 1 0 0 0 Day 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 Totals 200 31-75 13-25 36 14 22 78

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Shooting: Field goals, 41.3%; free throws, 52%

Three-point goals: 3-22 (Farmer 3-12, Stewart, L. 0-6, Stewart, R. 0-2, Craven, E. 0-1, Day 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 6 (McMillan 2, O’Neil 2, Oliver 1, Craven, D. 1). Steals: 12 (Craven, D. 4, Stewart, L. 3, McMillan 2, Craven, E. 2, Stewart, R. 1). Turnovers: 13 (Craven, D. 4, Craven, E. 3, McMillan 2, Stewart, R. 2, Stewart, L. 2).

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Cal Poly SLO 41 52 -- 93 USC 44 34 -- 78

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A--3,083. O--Mark Reischling, Quinn Crozier, Martin Cota.