USC Takes Pleasure Out of La Salle Trip

As soon as La Salle arrived in Los Angeles late Wednesday morning, the Explorers lived up to their nickname by immediately exploring Southland attractions to make the most of their one-game West Coast trip.

They went straight from the airport to Universal Studios before taking a tour of Hollywood and checking out the House of Blues on their second day in town.

Saturday at the Sports Arena, though, USC took La Salle and the announced crowd of 3,111 on a ride of a different kind, a bumpy, in-your-face California misadventure.

USC pummeled La Salle, 89-63, in a game that saw the re-emergence of the Trojans’ defense and a marked improvement in the home team’s offensive execution. Just in time for USC to open up Pacific 10 Conference play, which the Trojans will do in their next game, at Washington State on Jan. 2.

“I thought it was a good performance,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “The kids were coachable and we had a carry-over from practice [this week] to the game, which was something we haven’t had yet.

“We’re getting better every game, seeing improvement with each player.”

USC’s most improved players against La Salle were sophomore power forward Nick Curtis and junior shooting guard Roy Smiley, who each had career highs in points, and sophomore shooting guard Errick Craven.

Curtis, who lost the toenail on his left big toe six minutes into the game after a scramble for a loose ball, had 21 points on eight-of-11 shooting and Smiley finished with 18 points. Craven, meanwhile, seemed to break out of his season-long shooting funk and finished with 16 points in 19 minutes.

“Tonight was an all-around game for us, our best game so far,” said Curtis, who also had a career-high four blocked shots to go with eight rebounds, two steals and two assists in 33 minutes. This after going for a combined six points and nine rebounds in his previous two games.

“We pride ourselves on defense, but we also want to buy into the offense and the whole scheme of things.”

USC did that with aplomb against La Salle.

The Trojans (4-3) forced the Explorers (3-4) into 28 turnovers and had nine steals while shooting 46.4% from the field, 43.8% (seven of 16) from three-point territory.

USC came out hot, going on a 9-0 run to open up an 11-6 lead four minutes into the game. But then La Salle’s full-court pressure defense unnerved the Trojans, who were getting anxious in their half-court game and lacking continuity after losing Curtis and senior point guard Robert Hutchinson within 38 seconds.

Hutchinson’s bothersome right ankle, which he sprained Dec. 3, was caught under a crush of players diving for a loose ball. He was taken to University Hospital for X-rays, though results are not expected until today.

With USC distracted, La Salle tied the score on four occasions, the last at 22-22 with 6:57 remaining in the first half. But the Trojans intensified their defense and blew the game open, leading by as many as 31 points late in the second half.

Freshman guard Gary Neal led the Explorers with 21 points.

“We were never in it,” La Salle Coach Billy Hahn said. “We didn’t compete. USC was bigger, stronger and faster. There was nothing on the bright side tonight.”