Bibby Smiling On Inside

Henry Bibby never smiles. At least not on the court.

So finally the USC coach was asked: “Coach, is all this fun?”

“Yes. I’m very happy every day,” Bibby said. “I love being where I am and that’s always where you hope to be; in first place.”

So much for the Bibby to University of Memphis talk that surfaced earlier this year.

Or the Bibby to the L.A. Clippers talk.

In fact, right now the only talk floating around is about Bibby going to the NCAA Tournament.

The Trojans (12-5, 5-0) are the only undefeated team in the Pacific-10 Conference. They are also the only conference team to beat Arizona this year. They are ranked in the top 25 (No. 23) for the first time since 1992. They have also won seven straight games for the first time since ‘92.

And with a 5-0 conference record, USC is poised for postseason play. Especially when you consider that the Pac-10 has a No. 2 RPI ranking and any team with 10 conference wins will likely go to the NCAA Tournament. With six home games left to play and four of those against the bottom-feeders in the conference (Oregon State, Cal, Washington and Washington State), the Trojans seem well on their way.

“I thought we would be a team that would give some people a run for their money,” said Bibby. “And we have. I didn’t think that we were a team that would finish in last place.”

But hold on just a second. This is the same team that lost to Utah State, Long Beach State and St. Bonaventure. It’s also a team that relied heavily on a six-man rotation that now only has four of those players healthy.

Sam Clancy, the second-leading scorer in the Pac-10, is out with a broken foot. And Jarvis Turner, one of the most dangerous sixth men in the conference, is out with a broken ankle.

But Bibby doesn’t appear fazed by those details.

“We have other players that will get a chance to play now,” he simply said when asked how his team will deal with the injuries.

One of those players was sophomore David Bluthenthal. The forward got extended minutes last week and responded with an average of 22 points and 17.5 rebounds in two wins.

“That’s two of the best college basketball games I’ve seen a player play since I’ve been in college,” Bibby said. “I haven’t seen too many guys dominate the game like he did.”

In the win over Arizona State, the Pac-10 player of the week scored 18 points and pulled down a school record-tying 28 rebounds. The 28 rebounds are the most by a conference player since USC’s Cliff Robinson had that many in 1978.

The conference record is 36 rebounds set by Oregon State’s Swede Holbrook in 1955 against Idaho.

Home court advantage?

Oregon State’s sweep of the state of Washington marked the first time the Beavers have pulled that off since 1989.

Oregon also swept the Washington schools. It is the first time since 1994 that the Ducks have won both games in the Evergreen State.

So, armed with that information and the fact that the Cougars and Huskies are a combined 1-7 at home in conference games, it’s easy to understand why the road trip to the Northwest is the easiest in the conference.

Shutting down Arizona

Collapse on the Wildcats and they will collapse - that’s the theory USC took into its game with Arizona and it helped the Trojans walk out with a win.

“We wanted to pack it in and make them kick it out to somebody who wouldn’t have a high-percentage shot,” Bibby said following the game.

Low-percentage or not, Arizona freshman Jason Gardner still scored 25 points. But Gilbert Arenas, Gardner’s runningmate, was 7 of 20. Forwards Rick Anderson and Luke Walton combined for a 1 of 6 outing. And forward Justin Wessel did not take a shot.

If not for Loren Woods and his eight offensive rebounds, which helped the center score 21 points, the Wildcats would have been blown out. Especially since Michael Wright, Arizona’s other inside presence, was hounded by USC and missed all three of his shot attempts.

“There wasn’t anything I could do,” Wright said. “Every time I got the ball, they tripled on me. I was expecting the double-team, but not immediately.”

Expanding roster

All Pac-10 tight end Todd Heap joined the Sun Devils this week. Heap hasn’t played organized basketball since 1998. But the 6-foot-5, 215-pound sophomore was an integral part of a state championship team at Mountain View (Mesa, Ariz.) High that won a state-record 34 games.

News and notes

Bill Walton’s career shooting percentage at UCLA was .651. Luke Walton’s percentage at Arizona is .235. … Arizona coach Lute Olson has had four one-point victories over Arizona State in Tempe. … Washington has played three overtime games in the last eight games and has lost all three. … USC’s Brandon Granville has posted 10 or more assists a game over the last four games. … Oregon State is shooting 19 percent from behind the arc at home in the Pac-10 and 45 percent on the road.

Stanford made 56 of 67 free throws its last two games including 27 straight. … With North Carolina dropping out of the polls, Arizona now has the longest active streak of being ranked in the Top 25. The Wildcats have been ranked for 83 weeks. … Oregon played back-to-back overtime games in the state of Washington for the second straight season.