With Time Expired, Trojans Expire in Home Opener

Time had run out when San Jose State forward George Puou went to the free-throw line in Tuesday night’s game with USC at the Sports Arena.

The score was tied at 56-56 and Puou had been fouled by USC forward Derrick Dowell while attempting an off-balance shot just before the final buzzer.

Puou had two free throws to break the deadlock. He missed on his first attempt, and the partisan USC crowd, such as it was, screamed at him to miss the next one.

But Puou came through, the ball hitting the front of the rim and then falling into the net, providing the Spartans with a 57-56 victory over the Trojans.

It was USC’s home opener and also the Los Angeles debut of new Coach George Raveling.

By losing, the Trojans’ dropped to 2-3. The Spartans of the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. are 2-1.

San Jose State led throughout most of the game. But USC got its first lead at 47-46 in the second half on two free throws by Dowell with 6:30 remaining.

The Trojans increased their lead to 51-48 before the Spartans moved ahead again at 52-51.

However, overtime seemed imminent when USC guard Brad Winslow dropped in a three-point shot from the side with 11 seconds left for a 56-56 tie. He had missed three previous three-point shots.

San Jose then called time out and, when play resumed, the Spartans tried to work the ball in for a winning shot.

It seemed that Puou traveled as Dowell made contact with him. Instead, a foul was called, Puou went to the line and made the free throw that determined the outcome.

Dowell led all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He was the only Trojan in double figures. Puou, from Kailua, Hawaii, matched his career high with 17 points.

The Trojans committed 24 turnovers, and the Spartans had only 13.

The Trojans were coming off a four-game trip, but the so-called home-court advantage didn’t help them before a crowd of 3,064.

Raveling has said that shooting is his team’s main problem. It was evident again Tuesday night. USC shot 42.5% from the field, and San Jose State made only 35.7% of its shots.

Dowell didn’t complain about the call that sent Puou to the line with an opportunity to win the game.

“I just put my arms straight up and my hands over the ball,” he said. “I should have had my hands straight up. It could have gone either way. He (official Rich Ballesteros) called it against me, and I don’t have any complaints.”

Raveling said that he was pleased with his team’s physical effort but not its mental effort.

“If we played interior defense better in the first half like we did in the second half and, if we shot the ball better, we’d have a different result. I’m mystified why we don’t shoot better. We get good shots. It’s a state of frustration.”

USC was shooting only 38.6% from the field coming into the game.

Raveling, like Dowell, didn’t seem to have any quarrel on the final foul.

“I couldn’t tell,” he said. “I thought their shooter (Puou), without intent, made a good play. He shot into the defender’s (Dowell) arms and 9 times out of 10, the refs call a foul on the defensive guy.”

San Jose State Coach Bill Berry got two technical fouls in the first half and he said it might have been the most interesting game he has ever been involved in.

“We have a gag rule (regarding officiating) and they were Pac-10 officials. But we won the game in spite of the adversity,” he said.

As for his technical fouls, Berry said: “On the first one, I asked an official if that was really a foul (on his team) and he gave me the ‘T’. On the second one, I said something, and he was ready to give me a ‘T’, and I asked him if was going to give me a ‘T’ for that and then he did.”

Ask and you shall receive.

USC will play Niagara at the Sports Arena Thursday night in the second game of a three-game home stand.

If there is such a thing as turnover records, the Trojans were closing in on it in the first half.

USC had 16 turnovers but still was in the game at halftime, trailing, 33-30.

But Berry was on the verge of not even watching the game anymore. He got two technical fouls in the first half. Three on a bench result in automatic expulsion for a head coach.

After his second technical, Winslow went to the free-throw line and missed both shots. But the Trojans got another chance because Winslow was not supposed to be the shooter.

Dowell should have gone to the line. The error was corrected, and Dowell hit three free throws, making both shots on a one-and-one situation and the technical foul shot.

All of this activity pulled the Trojans closer to San Jose State at 23-19 with 6:08 left before halftime. The Spartans, getting good penetration, jumped to a 12-4 lead as the Trojans were averaging better than a turnover a minute--nine in the first seven minutes.

Dowell brought the Trojans back, though, with six straight points, while Winslow contributed a pair of fouls shots and a slam after a steal.

If it wasn’t for Dowell, the Trojans would have been trailing by a much larger margin than three points in the first half.

The senior forward had 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Only three other Trojans were able to score--Winslow, guard Rich Grande and forward Bob Erbst.

Puou and center Gerald Thomas each had 10 points to lead San Jose. The Spartans took 11 more shots than the Trojans in the first half.