USC, Fading Fast, Faces a Contender in Arizona

USC Coach Stan Morrison said Friday that his team and Arizona are headed in opposite directions.

The Wildcats’ route is obviously more enjoyable. With an 8-3 Pacific 10 record, they’re contending for the championship. The Trojans are 3-8 and looking up at most of the rest of the conference.

So it’s reasonable to assume that USC doesn’t figure to beat Arizona today at McKale Center.

“Arizona is on a roll, it is supported by the most hostile crowd in the conference and it is going for a championship,” Morrison said. “We’ll find out what we’re made of. The real character of our team will surface Saturday.”

USC was regarded as a middle-of-the-pack finisher in preseason polls, but the Trojans are playing lower than expectations. They’ve lost five straight conference games, the latest defeat coming at the hands of Arizona State, 75-67, Thursday night at Tempe, Ariz.

Arizona is coming off an impressive 85-60 rout of UCLA Thursday night. The Wildcats are 13-0 at home this season and have won 30 of 34 at McKale since January 1984.

Trojan Notes Today’s game, starting at 3:30 p.m., will be televised by Channel 4 and broadcast on KNX. . . . USC beat Arizona, 63-62, last month at the Sports Arena. Joe Turner, a reserve Arizona center, had a chance to tie the game at the end of regulation when he went to the free-throw line. But he made only one of two shots as USC held on to win.