Trojans Get Revenge as Ducks Fall, 63-59

Last year, the USC basketball team was swallowed by The Pit, losing to Oregon at its dreaded home court, 80-49. Coach Stan Morrison said earlier in the week that he wanted his players to keep that in mind.

The Trojans obviously didn’t forget as they played patiently, punched the ball inside, hit their free throws in the clutch and went on to beat the Ducks, 63-59, Thursday night in the Pacific 10 opener for both schools.

There have been indications that USC, now 7-3, is in the process of a turnaround season after an 11-20 record in 1984 and an eighth-place finish in the conference.

A team must win on the road to be a contender in any conference and USC has taken the first step.

The Trojans led throughout most of the game, but never by a sizeable margin. Still, a McArthur Court crowd of 8,429 wasn’t as raucous as it usually is.

The crowd took its last shot, shaking this ancient, three-tire structure when the Ducks closed to within one one point of the lead, 48-47, with five minutes remaining.

Oregon didn’t get any closer as USC, which had missed six of its first eight free throws, made 9 of 12 down the stretch to shut down the Ducks.

Wingman Ron Holmes led the Trojans with 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting. Holmes has now scored 18 or more points in five of the last six games.

He was supported by forward Wayne Carlander, who made 7 of 9 shots (five in a row in the first half) and finished with 17 points.

Blair Rasmussen, Oregon’s 7-foot center and a two-time all-Pac- 10 selection, scored 12 points in the first half, but got only five in the second half. Clayton Olivier, USC’s 6-10 center, did a dogged defensive job on him with help from Carlander and sophomore forward Derrick Dowell.

Olivier got his fourth foul with 12:51 left to play. But he stayed out of foul trouble the rest of the way while tracking Rasmussen.

Oregon, now 7-7, was expected to contend for the conference title after finishing third last year. The Ducks still might be a factor but, as Dowell says, “The conference will have to reckon with us now.”

USC Coach Stan Morrison said there was no revenge motive in mind Thursday night. He lauded his team’s aggressiveness if not its execution. He said that the Trojans had trouble solving the Ducks’ matchup zone defense.

Nevertheless, USC got some high-percentage shots, worked time off the clock in the second half by spreading the court and wound up shooting 62.5% from the field.

“I think we did a good job of defending Rasmussen in the second half,” Morrison said, “and we just spread it out and took it too them.

“We played on our toes and were aggressive. Last year we played on our butts here.”

Although visiting teams have been rattled in The Pit--even UCLA in its heyday--the Trojans have fared quit well here. They’ve now won 18 games while losing only eight.

Oregon led only twice in the game and USC had its biggest lead at 44-37 with eight and one half minutes remaining.

But the Ducks were still threatening until Holmes made a three point play after getting a sharp pass from point guard Larry Friend with 2:29 to play. The Trojans now had a six point cushion at 55-49 and they didn’t fritter it away.

Carlander, Olivier and Holmes each converted two foul shots in one-and-one situations in the remaining minutes and the Ducks couldn’t any close than four points to the lead.

Holmes cited maturity as one of the reasons for USC’s improvement this season.

“Look around. We have the same people,” he said. “Also the team spirit is better than it was last year. We’re a cohesive unit now and we even hang out with each other off the court.”

Holmes was sometimes erratic in the past. Now he’s more consistent and has improved on his defense.

Dowell, who had thoughts of quitting school last year when he was homesick, said he has no intention of defecting now.

“The way I felt I hurt the team last year,” said Dowell, who scored 12 points, mainly from inside. “The players were worried about me and I think that affected their game.

“Also, we are a more intelligent team this year. We know what we have to do. I think some of the team was alienated last year because we had so many freshman and sophomores.