Craven Gives USC a Start

PEORIA, Ill. â€”  Compared to Los Angeles, there’s not much to do here in this nook of middle America, seemingly not much trouble to get into in the hometown of seminal comedian Richard Pryor.

There’s a Hooters restaurant down by the river and the local library had an exhibit up over the weekend celebrating Pryor, its favorite, if most controversial, son.

But Errick Craven didn’t get out to see the sights on the Trojans’ longest trip of the season. The USC freshman guard had his nose in his books as he remained holed up at the team hotel. Finals are coming up at USC and Craven would be making his first collegiate start, opposite Bradley’s high-scoring sophomore Phillip Gilbert.

“Nothing but studying,� Craven said. “School and basketball. Lots of studying.�

Craven said he respected Gilbert’s game, but added that he did not fear him.

Craven said nothing, though, about embarrassing Gilbert.

In leading the Trojans to their 60-50 victory over the Braves at Carver Arena on Saturday night, Craven scored 14 points, 10 in the first half, and had seven rebounds, two steals and a block.

He also held Gilbert, who entered the game averaging 18.7 points, scoreless in the first half.

Gilbert finished with 12 points, missing 12 of 16 shots.

“The way [Gilbert] was playing,� Craven said, “he wasn’t really moving, so it made it easier to guard him.

“I felt a lot more confident in this game than the others. But I really didn’t pay much attention to [starting] because I play with the starting team in practice. And if I thought about it too much ... I didn’t want to get nervous.�

USC Coach Henry Bibby said Craven was anything but anxious.

“That’s what we’ve been wanting him to do,� Bibby said of Craven’s penchant for instant offense.

“We know he can create his own shot and score the easy baskets. We’ve been looking for that fifth guy who can create and he gave us what we needed.

“He opened it up for us with his easy shots.�

The game wasn’t as close as the final score made it look.

USC (3-1) confused Bradley (2-2) when it opened with a full-court press before switching it up and showing a 2-3 zone. .

The Trojans never let the raucous crowd of 10,019 become a factor as they limited the Braves to 15 points in the first half on 20% shooting.

For the game, USC had 12 steals, blocked seven shots, four by freshman center Rory O’Neil, and forced the Braves into 18 turnovers.

“The defense has been really good,� Bibby said. “My concern right now is making some good shots and getting some easy shots.�

USC shot only 32.2% from the field and 30% (three of 10) from three-point territory.

Trojan forward David Bluthenthal added 14 points and eight rebounds and point guard Brandon Granville had 10 points and four assists.

Bradley was led by sophomore guard James Gillingham’s 13 points.

“I was surprised at how well they defended,� Gillingham said. “It was really hard to get the ball in the post.�

USC used its defensive pressure to race out to an 18-point lead, 28-10, on Craven’s baseline jumper with 3:34 to go until intermission, when USC led 32-15.

USC went cold to start the second half, though, scoring only one field goal in the first seven minutes after the break as the Braves closed to within 12.

But the Trojans picked it up again and, after a basket by sophomore Jerry Dupree, USC led by a game-high 21 points, 53-32, with 6:28 to play.

Bibby emptied his bench and Bradley’s team of freshmen and sophomores made the score look respectable.

“[The Trojans are] a very different team than they were last year,� Bradley Coach Jim Molinari said. “They’re much better defensively because they’re much quicker. Henry’s done a great job of filling the holes.

“We had too many turnovers. Their defense had something to do with that.�