Morrison, Longhorns Can’t Cramp Lewis’ Style : USC Freshman Scores 30 Despite Leg Problem in 84-62 Victory Over Texas

USC Coach Stan Morrison said Wednesday that he was putting too much pressure on his freshmen with extensive playing time and planned to rely more on his veterans.

There are exceptions, of course, notably Tom Lewis, the smooth, 6-7 freshman forward from Santa Ana Mater Dei High School.

Lewis, in his best game of a promising career, scored 30 points to lead USC to an 84-62 victory over Texas Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

He might have scored more. But he went out with a cramp in his leg seven minutes into the second half and sat down for 5 1/2 minutes. Nevertheless, Lewis threatened the USC freshman scoring record of 39 points set by Cliff Robinson against California in 1978.

USC struggled against Texas, projected as a middle-of-the-pack team in the Southwest Conference, in the first half. The Trojans led, 38-32, but quickly pulled away with Lewis providing some of the offense at the start of the second half.

Lewis improved USC’s lead to 52-40 with 13:07 left on a three-point play coming off a fast-break layup. Although it appeared that he twisted his ankle, Lewis said later that his leg just cramped on him, a recurring condition.

“It wasn’t my ankle,” Lewis said. “I just get cramps in my legs sometimes.”

USC (2-3) was coming off a trip in which it was routed by Syracuse, 102-68, and then beaten by Penn, 63-54.

Morrison said he had been playing too many of his young people too soon and blamed himself for rushing their development.

“I may have been blinded by our recruiting success,” Morrison said.

The USC coach didn’t have more than two freshmen on the floor for the better part of the game. Two veterans, forward Derrick Dowell and guard Larry Friend, played 34 and 36 minutes, respectively.

Troy LeMar, a senior postman who hadn’t played previously, was in the starting lineup and played 25 minutes. Morrison said that LeMar brings stability to the team.

Lewis was on the court for 32 minutes. He made 10 of 16 shots and 10 of 10 free throws. He also grabbed six rebounds.

USC hasn’t been identified as an outside-shooting team in recent years, but Lewis is comfortable in the 15- to 20-foot range. He was accurate from the corner and performed with the poise of a much older player.

“I was feeling really good out there tonight,” he said. “I worked especially hard in practice all week. You never know before a game how you’ll do. I just hope to go out there and be on. Tonight, I was.”

Lewis said he wasn’t affected by Morrison’s statement that he was going to cut back on the playing time of the freshmen.

“We really needed a win tonight to get our confidence back,” he said.

When Lewis went out early in the second half, the Trojans didn’t falter. They played tough defense and got the outlet pass out quickly to initiate fast breaks as the Longhorns seemed to tire.

USC pushed its advantage to 64-47 as Dowell got a three-point play and Friend added two free throws. The hard-working Dowell finished with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Friend, the team’s quarterback, contributed a career-high 14 assists.

Texas was led by junior college transfer Patrick Fairs, who got 14 of his 20 points in the first half, mainly on outside shots from the baseline.

John Brownlee, Texas’ 6-10 center who scored a career-high 31 points against USC in a 71-70 win last season at Austin, Tex., wasn’t much of a factor. He got only 11 points and nine rebounds.

“We played with some semblance of the way we practiced yesterday,” Morrison said. “We had a long, hard practice, and the players took some of that into the game.

“Tom Lewis got us off to a great start (he had 19 points in the first half). He shot well and got out on the break. He got rebounds and made some nice passes. I saw some good things tonight, and it will just take time for the guys to play together.”

Morrison rotated three players--Rod Keller, Ivan Verberckt and Charlie Simpson--on Brownlee, a factor, he said, that contributed to Brownlee’s ineffectiveness.

“We rebounded well (a 39-32 advantage), got the ball on the outlet and on the break for baskets,” Morrison said. “But we missed a ton of high percentage shots, and that disturbs me. But the important thing is that we got the shot.

“The key tonight was our defense, rebounding and getting the ball inside. When we got the ball inside, we drew fouls and shot free throws.”

USC hit 22 of 31 from the line, Texas only 10 of 15.

“The Trojans were no surprise,” said Texas Coach Bob Weltlich, whose team has a 2-2 record. “I think they have better athletes than last year. Once that team gets the pieces together, it will be good. It’s hard to judge any team that plays in Syracuse.”

As for Lewis, Weltlich said, “It’s hard to evaluate his overall game because he played so well on offense that he didn’t have to play that hard on defense. I think he has a chance to be good.”

It seems obvious that Lewis is one freshman who’ll be an exception to Morrison’s edict.