Farmer Puts Final Touch on Wild Game for USC

There were some wild sightings in the Sports Arena on Wednesday.

Picture USC President Steve Sample and Athletic Director Mike Garrett, sitting courtside in yellow headbands in honor of senior Desmon Farmer’s last home game.

And over by the USC locker room, Sacramento King star Mike Bibby -- in town to play the Lakers tonight -- chatted on his cellphone before ducking inside when the Trojan players came out after halftime.

Bibby spent a few minutes in the locker room with his formerly estranged father, USC Coach Henry Bibby, who emerged smiling and greeted some of his son’s friends.

Put that in the “Things You Never Thought You’d See” file -- right alongside USC’s sweeping UCLA in consecutive seasons for the first time in more than 60 years.

It took overtime to accomplish that feat, but Farmer made his last Sports Arena appearance an electric one in the Trojans’ wild 78-77 victory.

It wasn’t the 40 points Farmer scored to help defeat Arizona, but in the unique math of the rivalry, 28 points to beat UCLA in overtime might match it.

“I’m sure that will stay in the hearts of a lot of people for a long time,” Bibby said.

Farmer made only eight of the 23 shots he took, but he made consecutive three-point shots in overtime, and his three-point play off a twisting fastbreak layup and free throw with 27 seconds left was the difference.

Unlike football star Mike Williams, whose departure was hastened by a court decision, Farmer gave USC fans a proper goodbye -- and a court decision of his own.

Besides the usual bragging rights -- the game was so important to UCLA’s Dijon Thompson he said he didn’t care if the Bruins won another game as long as they beat USC -- this game carried postseason implications.

No, not that postseason. Just the Pacific 10 Conference tournament.

Much like last season, USC and UCLA have to sweat out making the field, though it appears likely both will. (Arizona State is in last place, and Washington State, tied for eighth with Oregon State, must make the difficult Arizona and Bay Area trips the last two weeks of the season.)

USC’s record is only 12-13, 7-9 in the Pac-10, but the Trojans are starting to show hints of that late-season surge they often manage -- the sort of surge that seems so unlikely during their early struggles.

The last two seasons, USC has reached the final of the Pac-10 tournament, and Arizona Coach Lute Olson this week counted them among the dark-horse teams to do well in the tournament again.

“Washington is the one I point to the most, but other than them, SC , Oregon State, Washington State are others I think could pull it off too,” Olson said.

“It sort of depends on who else gets in there right now. There are some teams with good experience. USC, it’s almost a home game for them. Oregon State is playing very well. Washington State with their style of play.”

Bibby is well aware of his team’s erratic reputation.

“We’ve had some 20-minute [halves] of very, very good basketball,” he said. “I know a game doesn’t constitute 20 minutes of play.

“We’re gaining a little momentum. We have to finish it off.”

Sometimes, things that start off poorly have a way of finishing nicely.

Consider the tale of father and son.

When Mike Bibby chose to play at Arizona while his father was coaching at USC, he famously said, “My father is not part of my life.”

He is now.

“It was very good to see him here at the game,” Henry Bibby said. “We’ve been talking a long time.

“He’s kind of like I am. I don’t go to many of his games because of all the hoopla [it causes.] He has more guts than I do.”

It was a visit that came together late.

“He called me at 3 o’clock and said he needed like eight tickets,” Bibby said.

It was kind of late.

The state of USC basketball is such that Bibby knew he could find the tickets.

The way the Trojans have muddled along, there were plenty of seats available, but anyone who had one Wednesday saw a game to remember.