Wyoming Wears Down USC, 89-79

The University of Wyoming combined a sticky match-up zone defense with a strong inside power game to score an 89-79 victory over USC here Monday night.

Wyoming Coach Jim Brandenburg alternated five players along the front line, and they combined to score 72 of the Cowboys’ 89 points.

Sophomore forward Fennis Dembo, who has been plagued by a bad right ankle, led all scorers with 24 points. Included in Dembo’s total was a 14-for-16 performance from the free-throw line, including 11 straight in the final 6 1/2 minutes of play.

Eric Lechner, a 6-11, 242-pound sophomore center from Manhattan Beach, finished with 18 points, while Marco Fleming, a 6-7 forward from Manuel Arts High, added 14.

Wyoming’s two other inside people, sophomores David Lodgins and Jon Sommers, finished with eight points apiece.

The game was decided in the first 15 minutes of play when the Trojans couldn’t get the ball inside on Wyoming’s sagging zone. Meanwhile, the USC combination of Tom Lewis, Larry Friend, Greg Kimball, Kevin Stewart and Rich Grande could hit only three of 13 from the floor.

As a result, Wyoming broke from an 8-8 tie at the 14 minute mark to a 19-point lead, 37-18, with 5:28 remaining in the half.

The margin ultimately proved too much for the Trojans to overcome.

Over that nine-minute period, Wyoming outscored the Trojans, 29-10, and all but six of those points came either inside or from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, the Trojans hit only four of their first 17 shots from the field.

“They just hammered us inside,” USC Coach Stan Morrison said. “Our defensive breakdowns inside were unbelievable. Lechner just tore us up. We refuse to communicate. It’s going to be a long season if we continue to play like this.”