Sweep by USC No Slam Dunk

When Harold Miner dribbled the basketball between his legs at the top of key, juked past two UCLA players, drove the lane and threw down the nastiest tomahawk dunk this side of Dominique Wilkins, the highlight reel play punctuated USC’s 83-79 victory at the Sports Arena on Feb. 27, 1992.

It also gave the Trojans a season sweep of the Bruins, a feat USC has not matched since ... the first Bush administration.

David Bluthenthal and Brandon Granville were in Los Angeles-area elementary schools then, and while the seniors have a shot tonight at leading the Trojans to their first sweep of the Bruins in 10 years, neither recalls the dunk or the game.

“Not at all,” said Bluthenthal, who was 11 years old and enrolled at a Brentwood magnet school at the time.

“I didn’t really start following college basketball until I got to high school.”

That’s also when Bluthenthal’s soon-to-be-dashed dreams of donning a UCLA uniform began to form.

Granville, meanwhile, was a 12-year-old sixth-grader at Frank D. Parent elementary school in Inglewood, Miner’s hometown.

“Nah, I don’t remember anything about that game,” Granville said. “Nothing at all.”

So, if neither can remember the past, can they even dream of repeating it?

If the 25th-ranked Trojans dominate the boards and press and harass No. 15 UCLA’s ball handlers they way they did Jan. 10 at the Forum in an 81-77 victory, then the answer is a resounding yes.

But if USC allows the Pauley Pavilion ghosts to spook them again and the 11 national championship banners hanging in the rafters to blur their vision, then the cross-town bus ride home will be an arduous journey.

USC Coach Henry Bibby, who won three national titles playing at UCLA from 1970-72, is 2-9 against his alma mater, 0-5 in Westwood.

“It’s a problem for every team that goes to Pauley, not just our team or certain players,” he said. “I think the mystique of playing over there has hindered a lot of people from being successful. But we’re going to change that. We’re going to change that [today] and hopefully everybody is on top of their game to play.”

Since sweeping the Bruins in 1992 and finishing 24-6 with a No. 8 national ranking, the Trojans had gone 3-15 against UCLA. Then came Jan. 10.

The Trojans outrebounded UCLA, 46-33, and grabbed 24 offensive rebounds. USC also used its full-court press to get six steals and create 14 Bruin turnovers.

Only a career game from UCLA senior forward Matt Barnes, who had 34 points and seven three-point baskets, kept USC from running away.

“Now we know that he can shoot a little bit,” USC power forward Sam Clancy said.

“We have to make him more of a driver, not let him shoot wide-open shots.”

USC, which is coming off a last-minute 73-69 loss at first-place Oregon, is 16-5 overall, 8-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference, tied for second with Arizona. UCLA is 15-6, 7-4 and in fourth place.

“We have a chance to put [UCLA] away for the Pac-10 championship,” Clancy added, “and put ourselves in a better position to win it.”

Maybe that’s why no basketball players around Heritage Hall can remember the last time USC swept UCLA: The Trojans are too busy concentrating on winning their first Pac-10 championship since 1985, when they shared the title with Washington.

“Really, sweeping UCLA would be nice but it’s just as big a deal for our team to stay in the race,” said Bluthenthal, who had 16 points and 18 rebounds against the Bruins four weeks ago. “The extra motivation is to get an upper leg on the race.”

Even if there are no jaw-dropping, jump-up-out-of-your-seat slam dunks.