USC Finds Uncommon Dominator

Gregg Guenther, the reserve tight end on the USC football team turned starting basketball power forward, would be the first to tell you he is no Sam Clancy in the low post.

But Guenther gave the Trojans an imposing presence in the post Sunday that they’ve been missing since Clancy, last year’s Pacific 10 Conference player of the year, took his game to the NBA.

Guenther’s physical play against No. 22 Oregon opened things up for the Trojans and, playing one of their most inspired games of the season three days after one of their most forgettable, they pulled off a 91-76 upset in front of 4,771 at the Sports Arena.

“Gregg is strong and he can finish, stepping outside to hit those little jumpers,” Trojan guard Desmon Farmer said. “He’s similar to Sam in that way but it’s hard to be totally like Sam.

“It’s a good thing to have a big guy like Gregg to body up some of the other big guys.”

The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Guenther, a redshirt sophomore, got the start because sophomore Nick Curtis is battling various maladies (right heel, left ankle, splint on finger) and Jerry Dupree was given the day off by Coach Henry Bibby after missing treatment for an injured right ankle.

Guenther responded with career highs in points (16), rebounds (six), steals (two) and minutes (30) before fouling out.

“It may be surprising to some people, but it’s not really surprising to me,” said Guenther, who joined the basketball team Jan. 6 after returning from Miami with the Orange Bowl-winning football team.

“I’ve always believed in my abilities and Coach Bibby has believed in me so that’s made things easier, no question.”

It wasn’t the first time Guenther performed heroics for the Trojans (8-9 overall, 4-5 Pac-10), who had lost three in a row and five of six. He grabbed key rebounds and made two free throws with 3.9 seconds left for the final points in a 76-74 victory over Arizona State on Jan. 18.

On Sunday, it was his all-around game that helped the Trojans recover from a loss to Oregon State on Thursday to get their first win over a ranked team since beating Oregon in the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament last March.

“Guenther giving us an inside presence,” Bibby said, “opened up things for the other guys.”

Benefiting the most was sophomore center Rory O’Neil, who, after being held scoreless in the first half, finished with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. O’Neil also had a career-best five blocked shots, all in the second half.

“Gregg’s a big, strong body down there, throwing people around and getting wide open for passes,” O’Neil said. “I know now that when he’s in there doing that, I’ll get a [smaller] guy guarding me. It felt good.”

The havoc Guenther wreaked in the paint also afforded the Trojan guards better looks.

“That’s what we’ve needed every game this season,” said sophomore Errick Craven, who led USC with 18 points, had a career-high eight steals and tied a career high with 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.

“Our big guys have been playing with injuries. We don’t have to force shots when our big guys are playing well.”

The backcourt also can concentrate on ball-hawking defense, as it did against the Ducks (15-5, 5-4), who were led by point guard Luke Ridnour’s game-high 21 points.

USC forced Oregon, the Pac-10’s highest-scoring team with an 85.2 average, into 26 turnovers (20 in the first half). The Trojans also had 14 steals, which helped cut down the high-flying Ducks’ opportunities to run.

“We had a bunch of turnovers and there was a mental breakdown,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “We had sloppy passes. USC had a lot to do with it too, but we didn’t play well.”

Craven said Oregon simply fell into USC’s game plan.

“We knew that they were a good running team but it’s not so good in the half-court,” he said. “So we wanted to take advantage of that.

“Defense is the key. The last five or six games, we relied on our offense too much. We needed a big-man presence.”

They got it in Guenther.

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The Coaches

Comparing UCLA’s Steve Lavin and USC’s Henry Bibby--both in their seventh season as head coach at their schools:

*--* Lavin Bibby Overall record 139-74 111-86 Conference record 76-41 60-57 NCAA appearances 6 3 Wins vs. rival 10 3 Pauley wins 6 1 Sports Arena wins 4 1 Note: USC won last season at the Forum

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