USC Gets a Fresh Spark

Dwayne Shackleford was not supposed to play in USC’s season opener against UC Irvine.

He wasn’t even supposed to suit up.

Good thing for the Trojans that he did.

The junior point guard, who injured his left knee during the first week of practice, underwent arthroscopic surgery on Oct. 18 and did not play in either of USC’s two exhibitions, proved to have a shooting touch as precise as the hands of his surgeon on Monday night at the Sports Arena.

Shackleford came off the bench to spark the previously lethargic Trojans to a come-from-behind 90-70 victory over the Anteaters in front of an announced crowd of 3,515.

“I didn’t know I was going to play either,” said Shackleford, who transferred from Allegany College in Cumberland, Md., where he was a junior college All-American last season. “Coach [Henry Bibby] gave me that look to go check in and I didn’t want to second-guess him.

“I just wanted to spark my team any way I can.”

He did that, finishing with 12 points on four-for-seven shooting, including three for six from beyond the three-point arc, and two steals in 13 minutes.

But USC’s win -- giving Bibby a record of 9-0 in home openers -- was far from a one-man show.

Six Trojans scored in double figures, led by senior shooting guard Errick Craven and freshman point guard Gabe Pruitt, who each had 13 points. Senior power forward Jeff McMillan had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, sophomore guard Lodrick Stewart added 11 points and senior point guard Derrick Craven scored 10 points.

“That’s what we’re looking for, to spread things out, give a lot of touches, a lot of shots,” Bibby said. “Last year we had one guy getting all the shots.”

That was since-departed guard Desmon Farmer, who averaged 20.8 points in Pacific 10 Conference play as a senior.

Junior guard Aaron Fitzgerald led the Anteaters (1-1) with a game-high 24 points.

USC looked dumbfounded early and often by UC Irvine’s random zone defenses, the Trojans refusing to attack the Anteaters’ interior and settling for jump shots.

Looking for a formula, Bibby used 10 players before the game was 11 minutes old. And with 4:30 to play in the first half, the Anteaters led, 27-20.

Enter Shackleford, who made his Division I debut at the 4:01 mark with the Trojans trailing by four points.

All he did was knock down three three-pointers and a free-throw while steadying the Trojans and getting them to within a point at the half, 37-36.

Then, replacing Errick Craven at the 16:25 mark of the second half, Shackleford had another basket before energizing the crowd and his team with a steal and a behind-the-back bounce pass in transition to Pruitt, who converted the layup to give USC an 11-point cushion, 57-46, with 15:30 to play.

The play put an exclamation point on a 21-9 Trojan run that began the second half.

“It was no surprise to see [Shackleford] shoot it that way,” said Pruitt, who made six of seven shots with three assists and three steals and became the first USC freshman in at least 10 years, according to school spokesman Chris Huston, to lead the Trojans in scoring in a season opener.

Even when he was out of the game, Shackleford refused to take a seat, choosing to stand and root for his new teammates.

“He gave us a big boost,” Pruitt said. “He’s older [23], so we look up to him. He brought the energy.”

And the Trojans did not look back.

“Those were deep shots he took,” said UC Irvine Coach Pat Douglass of Shackleford. “We heard he was injured. We were hoping that he wouldn’t make an appearance until next week.”