Beat Arizona? It’d Be Sweet

Memo to USC: Hide your sweets and your treats, and lock up the student union. Midnight Lute and his gang of alleged candy bandits are coming tonight to the Sports Arena.

No. 7-ranked Arizona, renowned as a college basketball powerhouse and notorious for its sweet tooth, is coming off a 10-point loss at home to unbeaten Stanford. As such, Coach Lute Olson and the Wildcats may be looking to take from USC something more than handfuls of Abba-Zabas -- the Trojans’ spirit and pride.

“You could look at it the other way too,” USC Coach Henry Bibby countered. “We could be looking at taking something out on them after losing to Washington State.”

USC has had more success at home against Arizona in recent years, winning four of the last seven meetings at the Sports Arena, where they haven’t had to batten down the snack bars yet.

It was a year ago in Kansas that Arizona was accused of knocking over a Lawrence hotel’s candy vending machine for its goodies and cash.

Then, in October, junior forward Isaiah Fox was arrested on suspicion of stealing a king-sized Hershey bar and a bagel with cream cheese from an on-campus store.

“Isaiah’s a big guy; he probably gets famished during the course of the day,” joked Trojan junior guard Errick Craven, a high school rival of the 6-foot-9, 269-pound Fox, who attended Santa Monica Crossroads. “He probably just needs it.”

The Trojans, on the other hand, need a respectable showing against Arizona’s sweet-shooting guards.

Sophomore Hassan Adams is averaging 16.6 points and is shooting 52.3%; junior Salim Stoudamire is averaging 18.3 points and shooting 50% (11 for 22) from three-point range in Pacific 10 Conference play.

“If you aren’t already up for the game,” USC senior guard Desmon Farmer said, “I don’t know how you’re going to get up for it. Arizona, they’re one of the top schools, so everybody should be ready to play.”

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Bibby said he did not forget about senior center Jonathan Oliver late in the Trojans’ 76-61 loss at Washington State, even though he was the lone scholarship player -- and big man -- who didn’t play. Even walk-on forward Joe Buck played, along with regulars Rory O’Neil, Jeff McMillan, Gregg Guenther and Nick Curtis, in a game dominated on the boards by the Cougars.

“You have a tendency to keep going with guys that have basically done it for you,” Bibby said. “Sometimes you go through a whole game and you ... realize at the end of the game you should have given some other guys a chance. Maybe you do it the next game.”

So does that mean Oliver will play against Arizona?

“Maybe,” Bibby said. “I’m not looking at giving people run. I’m looking at what people do during the course of the week to deserve the run. O’Neil and Jeff have shown me they deserve run.

“They have to play bad a long time for me not to play those guys.”

Oliver did not speak with reporters.

TONIGHT

vs. Arizona, 8

Fox Sports Net 2

Site -- Sports Arena.

Radio -- KMPC (1540), KSPA (1510), XEMM (800).

Records -- USC 7-6 overall, 2-2 in Pac-10; Arizona 10-2, 2-1.

Update -- Olson’s next win will be his 510th with the Wildcats, making him Arizona’s winningest coach. Olson is 509-149 in 21 seasons at Arizona; Fred A. Enke was 509-324 in 36 years.