Morrison Likes Effort of Trojans

On the morning after the USC basketball team lost to Virginia Tech, 90-81, to even its record at 1-1, USC Coach Stan Morrison said reviews had been coming in from the fans, and the consensus was that they liked the game.

But Morrison said: “I’m very disappointed that we didn’t win that game last night. Virginia Tech played like the legitimate Top 20 team that it is. . . . We played hard and didn’t look nervous and that pleases me.”

The Trojans are facing a very tough road trip over the Thanksgiving weekend, playing at Syracuse on Friday night at the 33,000-seat Carrier Dome and at Penn on Monday night.

Morrison said: “Since it will be Thanksgiving weekend, I’m sure there will be only 30,000 people in the Carrier Dome. Those fans really turn the heat up in the dome. But our kids are tough. They won’t let the crowd intimidate them.”

Trojan Notes

Rod Keller, a junior forward/center, has not been feeling well and Coach Stan Morrison fears that Keller might be coming down with strep throat. . . . Morrison said that freshman Tom Lewis showed Monday night that he might be a zone breaker. Lewis made 9 of 19 from the floor as he scored 19 points for the second straight game.