Hutchinson Remains Absent From Team

Senior point guard Robert Hutchinson remained absent from USC on Monday, two days after skipping Saturday’s loss to California because of personal reasons.

Coach Henry Bibby said he expected to meet with Hutchinson today to resolve the situation.

“I haven’t talked to Hutch ... so I can’t really say what he’s thinking or what I’m thinking at this time [regarding his future],” Bibby said Monday afternoon.

“I think he’s a great kid. We all deal with things that sometimes get us off track but I’ve always been a Robert Hutchinson fan.”

Hutchinson, USC’s team captain as a junior, started the Trojans’ first four games this season before spraining his right ankle.

He has been slowed by the injury since and is averaging 4.5 points and 2.6 assists.

Center Kostas Charissis had an inkling as to what was bothering his fellow senior.

“I can see how he feels because I felt the same way,” Charissis said, alluding to their roles at USC as career back-ups. “We’ve been on the same boat for the last couple years.

“If I could give advice to him it would be to just hang in there and push through it, it’s just a couple games left. If he could come back and help us, that would be great.

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An item in Monday’s report said that if the Trojans went 3-1 to close out the regular season, they’d have to win at least one game in the Pac-10 tournament to finish .500 overall.

In fact, they’d have to win two games in the league tournament to ensure a .500 record.

-- Paul Gutierrez