Bibby Says Center Is Tired

Sophomore center Brian Scalabrine’s statistics have dipped a little in Pacific 10 games, and USC Coach Henry Bibby says it’s not only because of the competitive level of the Pac-10, but also the physical level.

“Scalabrine is tired. He’s carrying 240-250-pound guys around. That’s why at the end of games he starts to drift outside,” Bibby said. “The way he started, you thought, ‘Gosh, he’s going to dominate the Pac-10.’ Obviously he hasn’t, but you look at his numbers and they’re pretty good.”

Scalabrine’s 14.6 points a game and 6.9 rebounds lead USC overall, but his scoring dropped to 13.0 in Pac-10 play. Senior guard Elias Ayuso leads the team with a 14.0 average through nine conference games.

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Midway through the conference season, Bibby is looking to start things anew.

Why not? The Trojans, 10-8 overall and 2-7 in conference play, are on a six-game losing streak after starting the season 10-2.

“I want to start fresh. I want to go back to the same goals we started the season with: To win our home games and split on the road.”

Coming up: Oregon State on Thursday, Oregon on Saturday.