Sluggish USC Gets Past UCR

This week USC Coach Henry Bibby was lamenting the propensity of his leading returning scorer, Errick Craven, to get bored in practice, calling the sophomore shooting guard “his own worst enemy sometimes.”

Craven acknowledged that the monotony of scrimmaging was beginning to get to him, saying that although he enjoyed his teammates’ company, he was getting antsy for a real game.

Apparently, though, his car was not as antsy. After showing up five minutes late to the Sports Arena with his twin brother, Derrick, for the Trojans’ season opener against UC Riverside Friday night, Bibby benched both Cravens for the first 13-plus minutes of USC’s 81-67 victory in front of 3,127.

Despite not entering the game until the 6:39 mark, after eight other Trojans had hit the floor, Errick finished with a Trojan-high 22 points and a career-high five assists in 24 minutes. Derrick, meanwhile, blew a shot at starting at point guard and was the lone Trojan to not score.

“It was frustrating. I’m not used to sitting on the bench at the opening tip, so I was cold coming into the game,” said Errick Craven, who blamed traffic for their tardiness. “But you’ve got to come out and bounce back.”

Derrick Craven said he was shell-shocked at missing his starting opportunity as senior Robert Hutchinson got the nod instead.

“That took my whole mental game away,” he said after finishing with no assists, four turnovers and one steal in 15 minutes. “As a point guard, you’ve got to be mentally in the game and I was off in my own little world.

“I’m just going to make sure I’m never late for another game.”

And even with the win, Bibby wasn’t so sure the rest of his team didn’t take time off as well.

“It was one of the worst performances we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Bibby said. “We had no urgency. We didn’t move the ball. We missed easy shots and we didn’t defend. We didn’t do anything to deserve to win.”

Freshman guard Nate Carter’s 23 points led UC Riverside.

Bibby was hopeful that his young team, which has just two seniors, got his message.

“You hope so, but this is a different breed of kid we’re dealing with in this day and time,” he said. “And I call the shots.”

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A second MRI of junior forward Jerry Dupree’s sore right heel was inconclusive and Dupree has been advised to stay off the foot and prescribed crutches for the next two weeks, Dupree said Friday night.

Dupree, who is serving a six-game suspension handed down by Bibby, has also read the Internet rumors that have his USC career coming to an inglorious end.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, adding that his schoolwork has picked up since the start of the semester.

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UP NEXT FOR USC

Tuesday at Rhode Island (1-0), 4:30 p.m. PST -- In their first visit to Rhode Island, the Trojans (1-0) will help the Rams christen their new $54-million arena, the Ryan Center. USC and Rhode Island have split two previous meetings, the Trojans winning, 82-54, last December at the Sports Arena and the Rams winning the third-place game of Hawaii’s Rainbow Classic, 87-74, in 1995.