University Southern California Trojans
USC
Oregon St
No. 23 USC Overwhelms Oregon State, 64-51
January 31, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2002
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Southern California has more strength and quickness than Oregon State. Not surprisingly, the 23rd-ranked Trojans also have more wins.
Sam Clancy and Brandon Granville displayed those attributes Thursday night, scoring 17 points each to lead Southern California to an easy 64-51 victory over the Beavers.
The Trojans (16-4, 8-2 Pac-10) share first place in the conference with Oregon, and the teams meet Saturday in Eugene.
"We're trying to get two," Trojans coach Henry Bibby said of the trip to face the Oregon schools. "We did what we wanted to do on the road and now we think we can get another game.
"That's what we're shooting for. We're not happy with just this game. We're getting greedy."
Jimmie Haywood scored 14 points and Brian Jackson and Philip Ricci each added 11 for Oregon State. The Beavers (10-10, 3-7) were coming off an impressive road sweep over the Washington and Washington State, but had trouble with the step up in class.
"I didn't think we came ready to play tonight like we did last week," Beavers coach Ritchie McKay said.
Clancy added 10 rebounds as the Trojans outrebounded the Beavers 35-25. Clancy's double-double was his sixth in a row, the longest such run for a Trojan since Ron Riley opened the 1971-72 season with eight straight.
"Sam Clancy dominated the post against us," McKay said.
David Bluthenthal scored 11 consecutive points, his entire output for the game, during a 16-0 run that put the Trojans ahead 26-11 late in the first half.
His streak came on consecutive 3-pointers, a three-point play and a layup following an offensive rebound.
The Beavers never really recovered. They were able to trim the lead to nine points with 4:23 to play, but Clancy responded with a three-point play to end the mild threat.
"We had cushion basically the whole game," Bibby said. "You can make a few mistakes and it's not so glaring."
The Trojans used their athleticism to keep the Beavers out of sync. Employing a full-court press throughout the game, the Trojans forced the Beavers into 16 turnovers. More importantly, however, it kept the Beavers from getting into an offensive rhythm.
"We didn't attack it, we broke it to break it," McKay said. "We were getting wide open shots, we just didn't make them. Even when we were attacking, we didn't do the things necessary defensively to win the game." Trojans freshman guard Errick Craven said the Beavers aren't the only team to have trouble against the press.
"We have quickness all over the court," he said. "We've been messing with a lot of teams with the press."
In about the only thing that went wrong for the Trojans, Granville saw his consecutive free throw streak end at 34 when he missed two in the game's final minute.
