USC Gets Message and Routs Cal, 75-52

There was no need for USC Coach Stan Morrison to order a postgame practice for his team Saturday night at Harmon Gym.

The Trojans, after playing their worst game of the season against Stanford Thursday night, made a complete turnabout and played one of their best games in routing California, 75-52.

USC did everything that it didn’t do in losing to Stanford, 86-65. The Trojans played tenacious defense, jarred the ball loose, got their fast break going and worked inside effectively on offense.

“If we had lost, they would be hanging me in L.A., “ Morrison said. “But you have to gamble sometimes. The message had to be delivered. Sometimes, words don’t convey the message.”

He was referring, of course, to the hourlong practice after the Stanford game that was witnessed by a few reporters and a cleanup crew.

The team then took a bus to Berkeley, where Morrison held a team meeting that didn’t break up until 1:40 a.m. Friday.

Morrison didn’t feel that he was keeping his team up unnecessarily.

“A lot of the guys don’t go to bed until sunup anyway,” he said. “They’re watching movies in their room.”

USC had to beat Cal, given the nature of the Pac-10 race. By winning, the Trojans remained tied with Arizona for first place (11-4 records) with three league games remaining.

Neither the Trojans nor the Wildcats have much breathing room. Washington is one game behind at 10-5, while UCLA and Oregon State, both 9-5, are still in contention.

If USC had lost to Cal, it was conjectured that it might have gone in the tank--a players’ term--the rest of the season. There would have been the damaging psychological effect of having lost three straight games, and the Trojans might not have recovered.

But they’re alive and well now.

USC wingman Ron Holmes said that the Trojans were bent on “destroying” Cal, and that’s just what they did.

Cal never seriously threatened as USC opened a 32-19 lead at halftime that was expanded to 22 points midway through the second half and then to 30 points just before garbage time.

“It was our best collective effort of the season,” Holmes said. “We had heard on televison today that the race was really between Arizona and UCLA. That bothered us because we weren’t being given any respect.”

Four of USC’s five starters scored in double figures. Holmes had 17 points, forward Wayne Carlander got 13, forward Derrick Dowell finished with 10 (along with 9 rebounds), and center Clayton Olivier wound up with 14 points while playing 27 minutes.

Reserve guard Glenn Smith was steady again. He scored 10 points on five-of-nine shooting.

It was one of Olivier’s best games. The 6-10 center did a commendable job of guarding Leonard Taylor, Cal’s 6-8 center, and he wanted the ball on offense. He scored on short jump shots and layups, even a nifty reverse layup.

Olivier didn’t even take a shot against Stanford while performing for 22 minutes.

“I wanted to establish myself defensively,” Olivier said, “and I think I can be a threat on offense if someone is playing behind me like tonight.”

Cal isn’t going anywhere in the Pac-10 with a 4-10 record. But, then again, neither is Stanford at 3-11. Yet, the Cardinal has beaten the Trojans twice this season.

“I can deal with losing, but I can’t deal with our team not giving a maximum effort as it did against Stanford,” Morrison said. “We got a maximum effort tonight.

“There were two factors. We got back against Cal’s fast break, even our slow guys. Also, there were no gaps in our game. We were doing things for 40 minutes.”

Morrison wasn’t conducting a popularity contest by sending his players back on the floor after the Stanford game.

But the players didn’t seem to resent it.

“It was helpful because we didn’t get anything accomplished as a team or individually against Stanford,” Dowell said. “I know I didn’t accomplish anything against Stanford, and I can tell you my legs were tired in that game. We had played three games in seven days.”

It was suggested jokingly to the players that, perhaps, a nice workout after a game is beneficial for them.

“Only after a debacle like Stanford,” said Holmes, smiling.

Despite USC’s long ordeal Thursday night that extended into Friday morning, the Trojans were fresh for the Cal game. They had a light workout Friday afternoon, a short shoot-around Saturday morning and were obviously ready for business.

Taylor scored 27 points against USC last month at the Sports Arena as the Trojans held off Cal to win, 86-80. But he got only 10 on 4-of-12 shooting Saturday night.

The Trojans shot 55.3% for the game (70.8% in the second half), while Cal shot only 36.4%.

Morrison said it was important for his team to get the lead because Cal likes to spread the court and resort to a delay game if it is in front.

Olivier got the first basket of the game on a short jump shot, and the Trojans were off and running. They led by as many as 17 points in the first half, and a crowd of 4,500 was conspicuously silent.

USC also controlled the boards, out-rebounding Cal, 32-27. That margin was greater before Morrison let his reserves have the run of the court in the final minutes.

As for the conference race, Morrison paraphrased UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard by saying that it will be a war in the concluding two weeks.

USC meets UCLA Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion and then closes out the season against Oregon and Oregon State March 7 and 9 at the Sports Arena.

Arizona plays two of its final three games on the road, both against contenders--Washington and UCLA.

Trojan Notes

By scoring 13 points Wayne Carlander has 1,431 for his career, moving into second on the all-time school list. He passed John Block with 1,423 points. . . . John Rudometkin is the all-time leader at 1,484. . . . Derrick Dowell has pulled down 22 rebounds in two games against Cal. . . . Clayton Olivier said he is regaining his wind now after missing games against Arizona State and Arizona last week. He is recovering from a ruptured blood vessel in his right foot. . . . USC is 17-7 overall, while Cal is 12-12...USC reserve center Rod Keller and Cal’s Eathan Robinson squared off in the final 15 seconds, but the players were seperated before it got serious. . . . Carlander was only 1 for 5 from the floor in the first half, but he was 4 for 7 in the second half. Olivier was 6 for 7 for the game while grabbing 5 rebounds.