University Southern California Trojans
Men's Hoops Downs Pac-10 Rival Oregon State
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
February 4, 1999
LOS ANGELES - USC Guard Elias "The Barber" Ayuso shaved his teammates heads before the game and then lead the way as USC shreaded the most surprising team of the Pac-10, Oregon State, with surprising ease 81 to 50.
The Trojans (11-8 3-7) shaved heads and display of team unity worked as they snapped a nagging 6-game losing streak. Then afterwards, in an appreciative gesture, the players went to the student section and shook hands.
Playing perhaps the best game of his career, Ayuso excelled on both ends of the floor. He e pumped in a game-high 21 points and limited Beaver (11-8 5-5) top gun Deuandra Tanner to just 12. (Tanner had riddled SC for a career-best 29 in their first meeting a month ago, a Troy loss in overtime.)
6-9 Trojan center Brian Scalabrine was strong inside and ran the break well to total 19 points, 15 in an explosive second half performance.
The most remarkable stat of the season might be SC committing only ONE turnover in the first half.
Throughout the game Coach Henry (he has a shaved headd, too) Bibby's team shot the ball well from the outside, played smart and entertained the crowd with sky-high slams.
A couple of those crowd-pleasing jams came from Jeff Trepangier, who scored 11 in an effective reserve role.
USC goes for a sweep of the Oregon schools Saturday at 7:30 against the OU Ducks.
Quotes
USC Coach Henry Bibby-
"We played with intensity. We played defense. We cut off the head of their team (Tanner). We finally got some easy baskets...lay-ups and dunks.
"I've said all along this team doesn't give up. We put everything together. The guys shaved their heads. They bonded together. They're sticking together. We went over and shook the hands of the students and wanted them to know we appreciate them."
USC Guard Elias Ayuso-
"Team unity -- we talked about it (shaving heads) all week. I cut their hair. We're going to keep this up. We're still a team, we're still together. I knew in my heart we could play like that...everybody playing together."
On Stopping Tanner-
"That was my job to eliminate his touches and play good defense. I got a lot of help from my teammates. It was a big team effort."
Oregon State Coach Eddie Payne-
"USC trapped, they made us hurry, they overplayed the ball. The fast tempo of the game was no good for us. We got whipped tonight. USC beat us to the punch. They have more aggressive run-to-the-ball type of players."
