Raveling: USC Hasn’t an Outside Chance : He Is Hoping Trojans Will Stick to Game Plan Against Oregon

USC Coach George Raveling was appalled Thursday night when his team abandoned a working game plan against Oregon State--attacking inside--and took to firing outside jump shots in the second half.

The Trojans misfired, scoring only 20 points in that half after leading by nine points in the first half, and eventually lost, 57-51.

Perhaps, Raveling’s players will get the message tonight in a game at 7:30 against Oregon at the Sports Arena: Do what the coach says.

The Trojans, 6-9 overall and 1-6 in the Pacific 10, don’t scare anyone with their outside shooting. USC’s guards made only 5 of 21 shots against the Beavers, and that has been a trend. In the last four games, Rich Grande, Brad Winslow and Ivan Harris are 21 for 92, or 23%. Grande, 3 for 29, and Harris, 6 for 25, have been particularly ineffective.

“We felt we had such a great game plan against Oregon State,” Raveling said. “We knew what we had to do and spent extra time and film analysis on it.”

Ah, but the best-laid plans . . .

The Ducks (6-9, 2-4) scored only 18 points in the second half in losing to UCLA, 64-59, Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion. Oregon led, 41-32, at halftime as guard Anthony Taylor scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half. But the second half was curtains.

On that basis, USC and Oregon seem evenly matched.