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USC Seeks Revenge Against Washington Today

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Times Staff Writer

USC basketball Coach George Raveling had said earlier in the week that his team had a splendid opportunity to move up in the Pacific 10 standings.

Raveling said if the Trojans were to beat Washington State and Washington, they might zoom up as high as sixth place--the cutoff for teams getting first-round byes in the season-ending conference tournament.

USC took care of business Thursday night by routing Washington State, 66-37, at the Sports Arena.

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But two of the three teams just ahead of USC in the league race--Oregon and Washington--also won Thursday night.

So even if the Trojans beat the Huskies today at the Sports Arena in a game that will be televised by Channel 4 starting at 2 p.m., they’ll remain in eighth place, regardless of how the other games come out.

USC is 8-10 overall and 3-6 in the Pac-10. Oregon and Stanford each have 5-5 conference records and Washington is 5-4.

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Still, the Trojans are on a little roll, having won three of their last four conference games.

Washington beat USC, 95-82, Dec. 23 in Seattle in a game that was closer than the score indicated. Chris Welp, the Huskies’ 7-foot center and player of the year in the Pac-10 last season, was held to only 13 points. But 6-5 forward Kevin Vidato compensated by scoring a career-high 17 points.

Washington upset UCLA Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion, 95-87, and the starting Husky front line outscored the Bruins’ front line, 45-44, even though Reggie Miller scored 32 points. The Huskies’ threesome of Welp, Vidato and 6-10 Phil Zevenbergen also out-rebounded the UCLA front line, 32-15.

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Welp needs to score only 20 more points to become Washington’s all-time leader. Bob Houbregs, who played in the early 1950s, has that distinction now with 1,774 points.

USC center Rod Keller said that the Trojans came out with fire in their eyes against Washington State.

“They made a lot of noise and didn’t treat us with respect when they beat us earlier in the season in Pullman,” Keller said. “So it was pay-back time.”

Raveling can only hope that his team is still in a vengeful mood from previous slights by opponents, real or imagined.

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