Guenther Gives Team a Closer

USC lost four games on last-second shots last season and it has happened twice this season.

The Trojans also have lost three games this season after blowing double-digit leads.

USC Coach Henry Bibby found a solution to the team’s late-game problems Saturday, at least for one game, and from an unlikely source -- the roster of the Trojans’ Orange Bowl championship football team.

Gregg Guenther, a backup tight end in football and a reserve power forward in basketball, entered the game against Arizona State with 36.1 seconds to play, grabbed two important rebounds and converted two free throws with 3.9 seconds to play that gave the Trojans a 76-74 victory.

“We’re finally getting the hang of how to end halves and games,” said Guenther. “In the past we haven’t been able to close out games.”

USC lost to Missouri in the Wooden Classic last month after leading by 11 points, lost at Washington after building a 21-point lead Jan. 4, couldn’t hold an 11-point lead in Thursday’s loss to Arizona and let a 10-point lead get away Saturday.

Bibby said it’s all a byproduct of the rebuilding Trojans’ still trying to forge their own identity after losing three senior starters in David Bluthenthal, Sam Clancy and Brandon Granville.

But the mental toughness USC showed in hanging on to beat Arizona State had Bibby thinking his team may have turned the corner.

“We’re a young team, trying to build and improve with each game,” Bibby said. “I don’t know if last year’s team could have won this game.

“This is a tough-skinned team.... We’ve had some tough games this year. Our kids just play and persevere.”

And, in Guenther’s case, wait for their moment to shine.

“How we practice is how we play,” said Guenther, who joined the basketball team Jan. 6 and has made all eight of his free throws. “That’s something I’ve tried to bring over from football, how to close it out.”