Bibby Doesn’t Let Guard Down

Brigham Young Hawaii, USC’s first-round opponent in the Yahoo! Sports Invitational, is a Division II school. But because the 13th-ranked Trojans have already had several close games, Coach Henry Bibby is determined to keep his team from taking the Seasiders for granted.

“Since we’re playing a team from Hawaii, I’m sure their thinking is, ‘We’re at home, and we’ll be ready to play,’ ” Bibby said. “It’s not North Carolina, who we played last year in the first round of the Maui tournament, but any team can beat you on a given night.

“There are 14 undefeated teams in the country now [one of them 8-0 Mississippi State, which is in the tournament]. We’re one of them, and the target is still on our back. So we have to come in ready to play, and be excited about playing.”

*

Although USC officials continued to say there was no clearance for Jeff Trepagnier coming from the NCAA to rejoin the Trojans, there is a reservation for Trepagnier at the team hotel in Hawaii starting today.