University Southern California Trojans
Men's Basketball Squad Gearing Up For Ducks
January 26, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2000
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - USC is back in the rankings for the first time in eight years and the 23rd-ranked Trojans will be looking for their ninth straight victory on Thursday night against Pac-10 Conference foe Oregon.
USC (12-5, 4-0) is riding a seven-game winning streak, which is the longest since a nine-game run during the 1991-92 campaign.
"Guys on the team have a lot of heart," guard Brandon Granville said. "We have a lot of passion and we're starting to believe in what the coach is telling us."
Those comments came after the Trojans stunned then-No. 2 Arizona, 80-72, on Saturday despite playing without leading scorer Sam Clancy and key reserve Jarvis Turner. Clancy, who averages 17.3 points per game, fractured his left ankle and Turner fractured his right foot in last Thursday's 95-92 overtime win over Arizona State and both could miss the rest of the season.
Brian Scalabrine, David Bluthenthal and Garville have stepped up their games in impressive fashion.
Scalabrine set a career high with 27 points, Bluthenthal added a career-best 26 and Garville recorded his fourth straight double-double with 12 and 10 assists against Arizona. In the win over ASU, Scalabrine scored seven of his 26 points in overtime, Bluthenthal had 18 points while matching a school record with 28 rebounds and Garville chipped in 22 points and 11 assists.
That trio has helped the Trojans go 5-0 in conference play for the first time since the Pac-10 expanded to 10 teams in 1978-79.
Stopping that streak could land Oregon (13-3, 4-1) in next week's poll.
The Ducks are coming off a pair of thrilling overtime wins, an 81-80 victory at Washington State on Saturday and last Thursday's 76-74 win over Washington.
They have won five of their last six games, with the only loss coming Jan. 15 against then-No. 3 Stanford, 85-71.
A.D. Smith, who averages a team-high 15.3 points per game, hit the go-ahead jumper with 36 seconds left in overtime in Saturday's win. Alex Scales, who contributes 15.2 ppg, had 27 points in that victory after scoring six of his 17 in overtime against Washington.
