USC Fans Dreading That Familiar Sound : With UCLA Coming Up, Loss to Stanford Could Be Just the First Shoe

Anyone who has followed USC basketball over the years is usually listening. A person waits to hear the other shoe fall.

The Trojans have made a habit of teasing their supporters with the notion that, perhaps, they were truly a contender for the conference championship, or at least a team to be reckoned with.

Then, when USC fans, accustomed to mediocrity with the basketball program, got excited about such a prospect, a shoe dropped.

One fell with a thump Monday night at the Sports Arena, where USC was upset by Stanford, 60-54.

The Trojans had everything going for them before the game. A victory would give them sole possession of first place in the Pacific 10 with a 6-1 record. All they had to do was beat Stanford, a 1-5 team that is well coached by Tom Davis but is short on talent.

So, you say, that’s only one game. It could be a harbinger, though, given USC’s schedule. The other shoe may fall shortly.

UCLA, on a roll and with a 6-2 Pac-10 record, will play USC Friday night at the Sports Arena. Then, the Trojans leave on an NBA-like trip, with games next week against Oregon State (5-1), Washington (5-2) and Washington State (2-5) in the Northwest.

USC has been in this fix before. Great expectations, then thud.

In 1982, Stan Morrison’s team had won seven straight conference games and was tied with Oregon State for the league lead. The teams met in a showdown game at the Sports Arena that attracted 11,004 fans, about 8,000 more than the usual USC home crowd.

The Beavers won easily, 72-55. USC went on to salvage third in the conference and get into the NCAA tournament, but those 8,000 extra fans have continued to stay away.

In 1979-80, Morrison’s first season as USC’s coach, the Trojans started fast with an 11-3 record, 4-1 in the Pac-10, including a convincing 82-74 win over UCLA. But USC let its fans down again by losing 12 of its last 13 games.

Then, there was the 1976 season under Bob Boyd. USC was 11-1 entering the conference season. The Trojans didn’t win another game, salvaging only a forfeit when it was disclosed that Oregon State had used an ineligible player, Lonnie Shelton.

USC strung it out a lot longer in 1974 when it went into the final conference game against UCLA with the championship riding on the outcome. The Bill Walton Gang smashed USC, 82-52, at the Sports Arena.

A possible slide is imminent now, especially if the Trojans don’t beat the Bruins before their demanding Northwest trip.

UCLA is at the peak of its game, according to Morrison.

“I think UCLA is playing, perhaps, the best basketball in the conference,” he said Tuesday. “They’re playing with great confidence, shooting the ball very well, have easily the best team quickness in the league and are rebounding well.”

Morrison was asked to analyze the difference between Larry Farmer’s UCLA team that finished fourth in the conference last season, with a 10-8 record, and the current Bruin team coached by Walt Hazzard.

“The effort is stronger,” he said. “It is sustained for a full game. It’s a tough-minded team, and that is a reflection of Walt. He’s a fighter. They go to war for him.”

Trojan Notes Coach Stan Morrison said he is concerned about center Clayton Olivier, who played with his right knee heavily taped Monday night. Olivier’s knee popped out of its socket in Saturday’s game against California and his availability may be determined from game to game. . . . Morrison was reminded that Washington Coach Marv Harshman had said that a team could conceivably win the Pac-10 title with five losses this season. “I certainly hope so,” Morrison said. . . . Morrison has managed to split with UCLA in four of his five previous seasons as USC’s coach. . . . Wayne Carlander committed five of USC’s 13 turnovers against Stanford, but Morrison defended his star forward, saying: “He handled the ball out of bounds 99% of the time. (A turnover is) no more his fault than his potential receiver.”