USC’s Craven Catches Groove

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of Errick Craven’s demise have apparently been greatly exaggerated.

The USC junior guard, knee deep in the most frustrating slump of his basketball-playing life, awoke from his season-long slumber against Washington on Thursday night and sparked the Trojans to an 88-80 victory over the Huskies.

Craven, who has already endured a streak of 23 straight misses from three-point territory, made two of three shots from beyond the arc, five of seven overall, and led the Trojans with a season-high 20 points in 23 foul-plagued minutes.

“I’m just trying to get my groove back,” said Craven, who entered the game averaging a career-low 9.6 points. “It’s all rhythm ... and confidence. It’s coming back, slowly but surely.”

Craven’s inspired play -- he picked up his fourth foul with 16:24 remaining in the game and didn’t foul out -- may have overshadowed the much-hyped return to Seattle by the freshmen Stewart twins, Rodrick and Lodrick.

They had taken Rainier Beach High School to a pair of state championships before choosing the Trojans, who improved to 7-5 overall, 2-1 in Pacific 10 Conference play, over the Huskies (5-6, 0-3).

Both were booed lustily by the Bank of America Arena crowd of 7,708 from the onset, especially whenever they touched the ball.

“It made me play harder,” said Rodrick Stewart, who had 14 points, four assists and three rebounds in 30 minutes. “The team fed off that. We all had each other’s back tonight.”

Lodrick was in Washington’s back pocket all night, getting a season-high six steals to go with nine points, two rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes off the bench.

“It was like a fun game,” Lodrick Stewart said. “Now we’ve got bragging rights and when we play at the Rainier Community Center in the summer, we can crack funnies.”

It would have been easy for USC to mail it in after their travel difficulties. Their originally scheduled flight from Los Angeles at 3 p.m. Wednesday was canceled because of bad weather in Seattle, and the flight they were re-booked on, at 6:50 p.m., was delayed to the point that the team did not arrive at their hotel until almost 3 a.m. Thursday.

USC Coach Henry Bibby canceled the usual game-day shoot-around and the Trojans were sluggish at the start, missing 12 of their first 15 shots.

But a spirited 18-2 run to close the half, which culminated with Craven’s drilling a 25-footer from the wing, turned a 24-22 Washington lead into a 40-26 USC halftime advantage.

Desmon Farmer, who had the second double-double of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds, scored with 13:46 to play, giving USC a game-high 17-point advantage, 55-38.

But just as the Trojans did last year in blowing a 21-point lead at Washington, they ran into foul trouble. The Huskies rode the wave of whistles and poor USC shot selection to a 20-6 run, getting within three points, 61-58, with 7:37 remaining in the game.

USC would not fold this time, though.

Washington, led by junior guard Will Conroy’s 21 points, committed 29 turnovers, a USC opponent high, and USC had a season-high 17 steals.

“The kids fought through,” Bibby said. “Alaska Airlines knows how to save money by delaying us every 45 minutes. It all fell into place.”

Especially Craven’s shot.