Trojans Finish the Job

They almost did it again.

That Valley commuter college better known for its business school than its basketball program drove down to the Los Angeles basin and almost sucker punched another local and ranked team.

Proving its Nov. 21 victory over UCLA was no fluke--no matter what Bill Walton thinks--Cal State Northridge battled No. 12 USC throughout, but the Trojans had shooters, free throws, rebounds and good fortune to avoid the upset, winning, 99-90, at the Sports Arena.

Before a crowd of 4,019, USC (5-0) needed a career-high 29 points from junior forward David Bluthenthal, and a career-high 21 points from freshman guard Desmon Farmer. They were the main reasons USC ultimately overcame a 52-46 Northridge halftime lead.

Both players did more than score. Bluthenthal also had a game-high 11 rebounds. Farmer had nine, six of them coming at the offensive end. The two were pivotal reasons why USC held a 43-27 edge on the boards.

“I’m not ready to say David is among the elite players in the county,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “But he has gotten better every year. He came here as a power forward, and now he’s one of our best perimeter players, as well as one of our best rebounders.

“And if we gave out game balls Farmer would have gotten one tonight. He scored early points, got rebounds and kept us in the game. After not playing well against Utah on Saturday [one point], he needed a good game to get his confidence back and show he deserves to continue to start.”

Matador guard John Burrell had 25 points for Northridge (4-3).

With the exception of Farmer, who is starting in place of the suspended Jeff Trepagnier, Bluthenthal is the Trojan starter opponents fear the least. They don’t want Brian Scalabrine or Sam Clancy to get rolling inside, and they do their best to keep Brandon Granville from running the offense.

That was the Northridge strategy in the first half. After USC opened a 16-10 lead at the start, Northridge went on a 12-3 run to take a lead they maintained to halftime.

The Matadors were aggressive on defense, deflecting entry passes and slapping away nonchalant dribbles. A 1-3-1 zone effectively bottled up Clancy and Scalabrine, a problem the Trojans compounded by not being patient enough to pass the ball around the perimeter to find an open shooter.

So USC settled for jump shots, particularly three-point shots. And even though the Trojans had been shooting the long ball well of late--making 10 or more threes in three of their previous four games--the Matadors disrupted the USC offense.

“We are a jump-shooting team,” Bibby said. “But their defense was putting us on our heels. They were patient, experienced, well-coached players who executed their game plan very well.”

When Northridge center Brian Heinle, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half, made a three-point shot from the top of the key with 52 seconds left in the half, the Matadors had forged to a 52-44 lead. Northridge’s 52 points were only eight shy of the total Utah got tallied against USC on Saturday in Anaheim.

“Coach told us at halftime we weren’t playing our defense like we should,” Farmer said.

How did he say it?

“Pretty loud,” Farmer said.

USC got the message, scoring the first 10 points of the second half to go back in front, and appeared to be gaining momentum. But at the 17:32 mark Clancy was called for traveling instead of a foul. Bibby walked the court to voice his displeasure and received a technical foul. Burrell made the two free throws and a moment later he drove for a layup that tied the score at 56.

Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell could not fault his team’s effort.

“I just wish we could have gotten some more rebounds and hadn’t given up so many offensive rebounds (15), Braswell said. “It felt like they scored every time them got an offensive rebound.”