Defense Is Sound, but USC Loses : Washington Offense Proves Good Enough at the End, 51-45

Chris Welp, Washington’s 7-foot center from West Germany, said he hasn’t played against a better defensive team than USC this season.

USC Coach George Raveling said his team played well enough defensively to win.

But, as Raveling noted, there is another end to the basketball court, the offensive end, and the Trojans were remiss in this area--as they have been so often this season.

The Huskies had just enough offense at the end of a tight defensive game to beat the Trojans, 51-45, Saturday before a Sports Arena crowd of a 3,877 and a regional television audience.

Raveling has said that you can squeeze only so much out of a lemon to make lemonade, but it seems that he’s down to the last drop in squeezing enough offense out of the Trojans.

“We played two different games, depending on which end of the court we were on,” Raveling said. “On offense, we were never in harmony, showed a lack of patience and turned the ball over. A good portion of that, though, is a tribute to Washington’s defense.”

By losing to Washington, USC was stalled in its quest to move up in the conference standings. The Trojans, 8-11 overall and 3-7 in the Pacific 10, are still firmly entrenched in eighth place.

The Huskies, who were on the verge of being knocked out of the conference race before visiting Los Angeles, are very much in it.

Washington beat UCLA, 95-87, on Thursday night and, with the win over USC, recorded its first road sweep against the Southern California schools. More important, Washington improved its conference record to 6-4, remaining 1 1/2 games behind league-leading Oregon State.

USC led at halftime, 25-23, and the score was tied six times in the second half before the Huskies made a mild spurt. Mark West, a reserve forward, made two free throws, and Welp added a layup to give the Huskies a four-point cushion, 43-39, with 5:15 remaining.

That was an ample lead in such a defensive-oriented game, although USC closed in at 45-43 on forward Chris Munk’s short jump shot from the lane.

Then Welp, the Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1985-86, applied the clincher. He made a soft, 10-foot shot from the baseline with 1:26 left, and USC simply did not have enough time or offense to catch up.

“I wouldn’t have taken such a shot earlier in the second half,” Welp said, “but it was money time.”

USC made only six field goals in the second half and shot only 35.4% in the game. Washington wasn’t exactly sizzling at 42.9%, but it was enough.

“In all of the years I’ve been coaching, I’ve never been involved with a team that has gone this long without consistent perimeter offense,” Raveling said. “Even though I’m despondent we lost, there are still some things that we can build on. If only we could get our offense going, we could be a pretty good team.”

Welp, who was limited to only 13 points when Washington beat USC, 95-82, Dec. 23 in Seattle, finished with 17 points Saturday while playing 39 minutes. He brought a 20.6 scoring average into the game.

“That’s the toughest zone we’ve run across,” he said of USC’s defense. “It was very active. Their arms were always up on defense, and someone was always around you. You just couldn’t put the ball on the floor.”

Trojan Notes

Three Washington players, guards David Wilson and Troy Morrell and forward Ron Caldwell, weren’t allowed to play because of curfew violations. Even with that, Coach Andy Russo used only seven of the nine players at his disposal. . . . USC has lost 6 of its 11 games by six or fewer points. . . . Washington Center Chris Welp said that he was amazed at the manner in which USC’s Derrick Dowell, a 6-6 forward, operates inside. “He’s so active, and you don’t know where he is until he’s jumping over your back,” Welp said. . . . Dowell had 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting and was in foul trouble with four in the second half. . . . Bob Erbst, USC’s freshman forward, was harsh on himself. “I was nonexistent offensively and had too many turnovers,” he said. Erbst had two consecutive turnovers in the closing minutes while Washington clinged to a 43-39 lead. He was 1 for 4 from the field with 7 turnovers. . . . USC guard Brad Winslow missed 8 of his 10 shots. . . . USC Coach George Raveling said he had no quarrel with the officiating but added that Washington’s big men, Welp and 6-10 forward Phil Zevenbergen, camped in the lane and should have been called for three-second violations. . . . Washington had lost three straight conference games coming into Los Angeles. “These are definitely our two biggest wins of the season,” Russo said of his team’s sweep of UCLA and USC.