USC’s Dowell and Lewis Are Knockouts at Colorado St., 66-53

USC forward Derrick Dowell is quick, a good shooter, and he often finds the open man. And that open man this season has been freshman Tom Lewis.

The Dowell-to-Lewis combination was so smooth that it played well on the road Saturday night, even if the fans weren’t up to appreciating the spectacle. The team-within-a-team helped USC to a 66-53 victory over Colorado State University before a crowd of 5,682 at Moby Gym.

USC Coach Stan Morrison was happy to stand on the sidelines and see what nature (and good recruiting) hath wrought.

“Derrick Dowell gave us the leadership we expect from him,” Morrison said. “I was very pleased with his play. As for Lewis, I want him to take his shot when he can--he’s a good shooter. He had a hot hand, and the kids knew it. I didn’t have to say anything.

“That’s Derrick. He was looking for him (Lewis) and he just arranged to get the ball there.”

The arrangement resulted in a game-high 21 points for Lewis, the freshman who played in just his sixth game for USC. Dowell had 13 points and 7 rebounds.

The Trojan defense, meanwhile, was preventing the Rams from scoring at the other end. It wasn’t until well into the second half that Colorado State began to adjust to USC’s 3-2 zone defense.

“The first 10 minutes of the game was the best zone defense I’ve ever had a defense play while I’ve been at USC,” Morrison said. “We played more zone in this game than we have all season, but it worked.”

The Trojans shut down the Rams in the first half. In those pivotal 10 minutes, USC jumped to a 20-10 lead, and the befuddled Rams were taking desperate, low-percentage shots.

“We have to be very concerned about our decisions,” Colorado State Coach Tony McAndrews said. “We certainly didn’t compete very well in the first 10 minutes. Players were trying to do some things in the game that we don’t allow. They were playing selfish.”

It was USC that was selfish, rarely sharing the ball with their opponent. The Trojans (3-3) had their best rebounding night of the season and held Colorado State (4-2) to three rebounds in the first half.

In the game, n the Rams did not score a point off an offensive rebound.

The Trojan defense also contained the Rams’ leading scorer, Rich Strong. The powerful center had averaged 19 points a game, but he managed only 2 points in the first half and 11 in the game.

The Trojans set the tempo early, taking a 12-point lead with 7:35 left in the first half. USC led at halftime, 34-26.

Someone in the Ram locker room must have whispered something about penetrating because Colorado State was able to pick up its lagging offense with quick points underneath.

In addition, the Rams abandoned their laissez-faire attitude toward Lewis and his outside jumper.

“We let him have that shot in the first half,” Strong said. “You can’t let that happen.”

That’s all very well, but the revelation came too late for the Rams. Ron McCrary’s slam dunk with 2:21 left in the game brought Colorado State within eight points, 56-48. Any hope for a comeback was dashed when Troy LaMar and Lewis scored in quick succession.

And what did Strong think of the Trojans’ freshman sensation? Strong looked incredulous--Freshman, you say?

“Does he play like a freshman?” Strong said. “When he’s the freshman a team goes to, he’s not going to play like a freshman for too many games. Not this kid.”