Winslow Perfect on 3-Pointers, but USC Still Loses, 56-53

USC isn’t recognized as an outside shooting team, or any type of shooting team, for that matter.

But USC guard Brad Winslow had a hot hand Thursday night and came ever so close to bringing his team back from a 12-point halftime deficit against California at Harmon Gym.

Winslow found a comfortable home on the right baseline in the second half and made four three-point shots in four attempts after making one of one in the first half. He also had a career-high 25 points.

But USC lost another close Pacific 10 game, 56-53.

The Trojans are 8-12 overall and have lost 7 of the 12 by six or fewer points.

A mistake by Winslow in the final seconds hurt the Trojans’ chances of forcing an overtime.

Cal was clinging to a 53-50 lead when USC guard Rich Grande whipped in a pass from out of bounds to Winslow. But Winslow took his eye off the ball for a split second and then dropped it out of bounds with 19 seconds remaining.

“I tried to shoot it before I caught it,” Winslow said. “It’s like any sport when you act before you catch it. I feel bad about it.”

After Winslow’s turnover, Cal center Hartmut Ortmann made two free throws on a one-and-one with 11 seconds to play.

But Winslow still had one more bomb to deliver. He got it off with five seconds left from the right baseline. Swish, another three-pointer.

But the Trojans were running out of time. Cal guard Chris Washington was fouled with two seconds remaining and made the first free throw on a one-and-one. USC rebounded his missed second shot, and forward Derrick Dowell just had time to cast off from past the mid-court line. The ball found the glass but not the basket.

By losing, USC’s league record dropped to 3-8. Cal is 14-10 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-10.

Kevin Johnson, Cal’s swift point guard, penetrated the USC defense time and again. He got only 12 points but was the catalyst in his team’s offense and handed off six assists.

Winslow got 18 of his points in the second half on 10-of-14 shooting. He was shooting only 38.5% from the field coming into the game.

“I just played relaxed, as relaxed as I’ve been all year,” Winslow said. “We were doing things in the context of our offense. Some things just didn’t work, so I started to put it up.

“I’ve been working very hard on my shooting, and it is starting to pay off.”

But Winslow, a junior from Santa Monica High School, said the Trojans were remiss on defense.

“I don’t think we did that great a job on defense,” he said. “We got beat for some key baskets, but a lot of that has to do with Johnson and Washington and their quickness.”

USC, the worst shooting team in the Pac-10, shot a blistering 72.7% in the second half and 52.6% for the game.

But as hot as the Trojans were in the second half, they had been almost embarrassing as shooters in the first half. USC shot only 25% and got off only one shot in the final 4:13 before halftime. The Trojans made only four field goals in the first half, compared to 16 in the second.

It was a grubby first half and so physical that USC Coach George Raveling compared it to a Big Ten contest.

Raveling even got into a shouting match with Cal Coach Lou Campanelli. But he said it wasn’t significant.

“It was just something that was done in the heat of competition,” he said. “I don’t even remember what I said. When you get a black guy and an Italian yelling, it’s never going to be pleasant.”

Raveling has been strongly opposed to the three-point basket since the rule came into effect this season. He still hasn’t changed his mind, even though Winslow came close to pulling off an upset with it.

“It (the three-point shot) was just something that kept the fans (6,450) in their seats a little bit longer,” Raveling said. “I’m still not in favor of it.”

Raveling said that Thursday night’s game was similar to the first meeting between the teams, when Cal won, 79-76, Jan. 2 at Loyola Marymount.

“We got off to a rocky start in that game and made a nice comeback, but we just didn’t get it done--like tonight,” Raveling said.

He realized, though, that if Winslow hadn’t fumbled Grande’s pass, the Trojans might have delayed the game a little longer.

“The pass was thrown a little hard, and it just went off Brad’s hands,” Raveling said. “He had time, though, to get the shot off.”

Someone not familiar with USC’s 41.7% shooting coming into the game asked Raveling if Winslow always shot like that?

“If he had been, we wouldn’t be where we are now,” Raveling said dryly.

Cal got balanced scoring from forwards Jon Wheeler and Dave Butler, who had 15 and 14 points, respectively. Dowell was the only Trojan besides Winslow in double figures, finishing with 17 points.

Raveling has said that he has been looking for one perimeter shooter to emerge from his team in the last half of the season. One did Thursday night, but it still wasn’t enough to get the job done.”