Oregon Shoots Past Sleepwalking USC

With this week’s run of bad weather in the Pacific Northwest, there had been some doubt about Oregon’s being able to fly to Southern California for this weekend’s Pacific 10 Conference games.

After Friday night’s shower of three-point shots from Oregon, no doubt USC wishes the Ducks had been grounded in Eugene.

Oregon pummeled USC, 92-74, making 14 of 23 three-pointers in front of 3,578 at the Sports Arena in both schools’ conference opener.

Falling behind, 49-33, by halftime, the sluggish Trojans played as if they, rather than the football team, had been up all night celebrating a Rose Bowl victory. It was the first time since 1998 that USC had dropped its Pac-10 men’s basketball opener.

That a football player -- Gregg Guenther, who shifted from playing tight end Thursday to power forward Friday -- showed more passion in his 13 minutes than half of the basketball team only served as fodder for Trojan Coach Henry Bibby in what has become a nightly roast of his squad.

“We didn’t play defense, like we [haven’t] basically all year,” Bibby said. “We didn’t guard the basketball outside.

“They shoot it deep; they shoot it well. We knew they could shoot the basketball [from] outside.”

And the Trojans, 5-5 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-10, did little about it, allowing plenty of wide-open looks.

Duck senior guard James Davis came off the bench to drop seven three-point shots on USC. He finished with 21 points, and freshman point guard Aaron Brooks added 13 points, including three-for-four three-point shooting. (USC was eight for 26 from beyond the three-point arc.) But it was sophomore forward Ian Crosswhite who led Oregon (6-2, 1-0) with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Two Duck runs in the first half, a 10-0 spurt with USC trailing by one point, at 21-20, followed by a half-ending 11-0 surge, with USC down by five, 38-33, all but sealed the Trojans’ fate.

“They came out flat,” Brooks said of the Trojans. “They just couldn’t get it going. They’re an athletic team, and we tried to stop them in transition. We got back on D, and things fell in place.”

Trailing by 16 at halftime, USC got no closer than 14 points in the second half and trailed by as many as 25 points. Oregon outscored USC, 32-11, in points off turnovers.

Senior guard Desmon Farmer led USC with 15 points on five-for-15 shooting, including three for nine from three-point range. Farmer also had eight rebounds, and junior power forward Jeff McMillan added 14 points and nine rebounds.

But it was Guenther, who had seven points and two rebounds one night after having caught a 19-yard pass on a third-and-12 play in the No. 1-ranked football team’s Rose Bowl victory over Michigan, who went from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other.

“I had my fun last night; it’s not every day you win a national championship,” Guenther said. “But [the Oregon loss] still hurts. I hate losing. I don’t know what to say. Both [feelings] are unexplainable.”

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Calling it a “mutual decision,” Bibby said that freshman point guard Quinton Day has asked for and will receive his release from USC. Day had not returned to the Southland after going home to Kansas City, Mo., after Christmas. “He’s a good kid and he wanted to be closer to home,” Bibby said. “That’s understandable.”

Nick Curtis, who is battling knee tendinitis, did not suit up for the game and said he will sit out Sunday’s game against Oregon State but play at Washington on Thursday.