Jan. 20, 2001
By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Southern California's Sam Clancy is listed at 6-foot-7. He just plays bigger.
"He dominated Arizona, and he dominated tonight," Trojans coach Henry Bibby said Saturday night after Clancy had 28 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in a 77-58 victory over Arizona State.
"There's no power forward playing as well as him."
Brandon Granville scored 22, and Brian Scalabrine, scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting in a 91-83 loss at Arizona two days earlier, was 5-of-6 this time and had 13 points.
The No. 24 Trojans (13-4, 3-2 Pac-10) snapped a two-game skid and kept Arizona State winless in conference play - the Sun Devils' first 0-6 start in the league since 1981-82.
"What's happening a lot is that people concentrate on Brian Scalabrine a lot," Bibby said. "They go into the game saying, 'Brian is the guy, Brian is the guy,' and there's nobody that can cover Sam."
Donnell Knight had 17 for the Sun Devils (8-9), who were trying to beat USC in Tempe in successive years for the first since 1983-84. But he had only five points in the second half, getting two late field goals after the game was out of reach.
Tommy Smith had 10 points before fouling out with 4:21 to go, and Awvee Storey had 11 rebounds, but missed his fifth straight double-double by a field goal.
"Certain guys are playing well in spurts," Sun Devils coach Rob Evans said. "We need to get more consistent on offense. We need guys to look for their shots and try to be aggressive on offense, and we have to defend better."
Arizona State has lost seven of its last eight after posting a better record than rival Arizona, the preseason No. 1, before starting conference play.
The Sun Devils beat USC 93-81 last season, and the game ended in violence when the Trojans' Jeff Trepagnier punched Storey. ASU complained before the game that practice balls offered to the Trojans were returned with obscenities scratched in them.
There was no trouble this time, and the Trojans took the suspense out of the game early as Trepagnier, starting his fourth game after having his eligibility reinstated by the NCAA, and Storey played without any confrontations.
The Trojans went ahead 41-28 late in the first half, and Arizona State never threatened after Scalabrine scored seven points during a 19-8 run to start the second half.
Clancy, who had 19 points in the first half, got his first basket of the second with 11:44 remaining in the game to give USC a 60-36 lead.
The Trojans made just one field goal after that, riding out the win at the free-throw line.
Clancy had 10 points during a 14-2 run that made it 29-23 for the Trojans with 6:38 left in the first half.
"I went out and got in a groove right away," Clancy said. "They weren't double-teaming me aggressively enough, which I thought they would, but they didn't. And I was on. I took shots I thought were going to miss, but they were going in."
After the Trojans' rally, Knight and Granville exchanged 3-pointers. Then Smith made Arizona State's last basket of the half with 4:37 to go.
Granville made another 3-pointer and four free throws as USC finished the half with a 9-0 surge.
"Their size hurt us, definitely," Storey said. "But it didn't kill our momentum as far as wanting to still compete and get back in the game. It was just too big of a deficit."