USC Again Finds Schrempf Too Much to Handle, 66-50

Detlef Schrempf, who almost single-handedly made sure that USC did not beat Washington last year, still is taking personal charge of the Trojans.

The West German Olympian took all the steam out of a USC comeback Thursday night at Cal State Dominguez Hills, scoring 16 of his 20 points in the second half as the Huskies won, 66-50, on USC’s temporary home court.

The victory improved Washington’s overall record to 10-3, and its Pacific 10 record to 2-1. USC is 7-4 and 1-1.

If the Trojans are to be a contender in the Pac-10 race, they must, at least, split with teams like Washington and Oregon State, the pre-conference favorites.

But USC just might not be in that class, although it apparently is a better team than last season, when it finished 11-20 overall and eighth in the Pac-10.

The Trojans at least made a run at Washington Thursday night. They trailed the Huskies by as many as 12 points in the first half, but cut the margin to three by halftime.

Schrempf, a 6-9 forward, then took matters into is own hands. He continually got free for jump shots in the lane, frequently handling the ball because Washington does not have a true point guard.

And, when it was all over, he had made seven of eight shots from the field, grabbed five rebounds and had seven assists.

That’s a typical performance for him. He’s one of the most versatile players in the country, one who is team-oriented.

“USC double-teamed Detlef a lot in the first half,” Washington Coach Marv Harshman said. “When he is patient, he helps the others on the team. In the second half, the defense gets tired and doesn’t double-team as much.”

Schrempf scored 53 points in two games against USC last season as the Huskies swept the Trojans. As the team leader, he also does a lot of other things that don’t show up in the box score.

USC never led, but it was still in the game while trailing, 39-34, with about 11 minutes remaining.

Then, Schrempf put USC away. He scored eight straight points while the Trojans were getting only one free throw from guard Larry Friend.

That was it. The Trojans couldn’t mount another charge and the Huskies padded their advantage at the free throw line in the closing minutes.

Forward Paul Fortier supported Schrempf by scoring 18 points, 13 in the first half. USC had only two players in double figures, forward Ron Holmes and center Clayton Olivier with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

“They definitely took us out of our game plan”, Holmes said. “They were so strong inside and we had no inside game at all. We were trying to come back, but it was a long struggle.”

The Huskies pack their zone with the 6-9 Schrempf, 7-foot Christian Welp and 6-9 Fortier.

There wasn’t much room for the Trojans to maneuver inside, and they also hurried some shots.

USC forward Derrick Dowell, who had nine points and seven rebounds, said that the Trojans came out flat and weren’t into the game emotionally.

“We couldn’t execute our offense because of Washington’s defense,” he said. “It’s a shame that we lost that badly. I’m very disappointed, but we’ll bounce back.”

Washington shot a school-record 73.3% from the field for the game, obviously getting good-percentage shots. USC was only 35.3%, just 29% in the second half.

“Our shot selection was the poorest of the season and our execution might have been the poorest of the last two seasons,” USC Coach Stan Morrison said. “Our effort was fine, but we were out of control and didn’t play with maturity or intelligence. All the credit must go to Washington. They were really ready and knew the importance of the game.”

The Trojans will get a chance to redeem themselves Saturday afternoon when they meet Washington State, which was beaten, 75-48, by UCLA Thursday night.

USC has had many home courts in the past. Dominguez Hills is the latest. The Trojans couldn’t play in the Sports Arena this week because an ice show had booked the building.

Nevertheless, there was an overflow crowd of 4,127 at Dominguez Hills. USC doesn’t draw that well regularly at the Sports Arena.

“I loved the crowd,” Morrison said, “but I’m disappointed for them. They came to see a good game and didn’t. We better make a big turnaround quick or we are in trouble.”