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Bluthenthal blossomed as a 1999-2000 sophomore, starting 29 of 30 games at small forward en route to 2000 All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors.
He averaged a USC-best 8.3 rebounds per game (third in the Pac-10 and the best USC mark since 1995) and his 250 rebounds were the 14th-most ever by a Trojan. He was the team’s fourth-leading scorer, averaging 13.9 points per game, and he also finished as the squad’s top free throw shooter, canning 74-of-88 foul shots (.841, fifth best in the Pac-10 and fifth best in USC history). Bluthenthal was the Pac-10’s top rebounder in conference games, finishing with a 9.9 clip, the best ever by a Trojan in the Pac-10. He was also the Trojans’ third-leading scorer in conference games at 15.3, finishing one rebound short of averaging a double-double in Pac-10 games. In addition, he led the Pac-10 in free throw percentage in conference games at .890 (65-of-73), becoming the first Pac-10 player ever to lead the league in both free throw percentage and rebounds in Pac-10 games.
Bluthenthal’s season was highlighted by a monster performance against Arizona State at the Sports Arena when he tied a USC record (set by Cliff Robinson) with 28 rebounds (the third highest total ever in the Pac-10) to go with 18 points. He followed that up with a career-high 26 points and seven rebounds against Arizona to earn his first Pac-10 Player of the Week honor. Bluthenthal finished with eight double-doubles on the season, including three in a row against Arizona State, Oregon State and Oregon .
He scored in double figures 21 times and averaged 18.0 points and 9.6 rebounds in his last seven outings. He also played every minute of a game five times ... He scored 19 points and had 15 rebounds in a loss at UCLA, had 24 points and 10 rebounds in a home loss to Oregon, made 9-of-10 field goal attempts against Northwestern and had a 10-of-10 showing from the foul line at Arizona State.
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