With or Without Dowell, USC Sinks : Trojan Forward Is Ejected and Arizona Prevails, 73-61

USC Coach George Raveling has said that he shudders to think what kind of a record his team would have if senior forward Derrick Dowell hadn’t become eligible this season.

The record is bad enough with Dowell, and Raveling got an opportunity to find out how his team would fare without Dowell Tuesday night at the Sports Arena where USC lost to Arizona, 73-61.

Dowell was ejected with 12:42 remaining for throwing an elbow into the face of Arizona forward Sean Elliott after the players had exchanged words.

Elliott hit the floor hard and then had to go to the dressing room to repair a split lip.

Before he was decked, the smooth 6-8 sophomore forward was putting on a shooting clinic. He scored 9 of Arizona’s first 11 points in the second half after getting only 4 points in the first.

And, after he had first aid in the dressing room, he was seemingly unaffected as he pumped in two more outside shots. He settled for 17 points, but he was definitely the catalyst when there was any semblance of a game.

When the game ended, Dowell approached Elliott and apologized to him. But the damage had been done--more by Elliott than Dowell.

So the Trojans continue to skid. They have lost six straight conference games and the prospect is bleak of winning again before the regular season ends.

USC is at Oregon and Oregon State Thursday and Saturday, respectively, before returning home for a rematch with UCLA Feb. 26 at Pauley Pavilion.

The Trojans are 8-16 overall and 3-12 in the Pacific 10, securing their hold on last place. Arizona, 15-9 and 10-4, is only a half-game behind UCLA.

Raveling has said that Arizona, the defending Pac-10 champion, is the toughest team in the conference for his Trojans to match up with--and so it seems.

Lute Olson’s Wildcats have rangy forwards in Elliott and 6-foot 9-inch Anthony Cook along with a rugged, penetrating center in 6-8 Tom Tolbert. In the backcourt, 6-6 Craig McMillan has a four-inch size advantage over USC point guard Rich Grande.

As for the confrontation between Elliott and Dowell, here’s what the participants had to say.

Elliott: “Dowell knocked my hand away and then said, ‘Ref, he’s holding me.’ We turned to got to the basket and all I knew is that he hit me.

“I don’t even know where he hit me. I can’t remember what hotel we’re staying at. When I came back after a couple of trips down the floor, I was OK, but I couldn’t remember anything.”

Dowell said the officials were warning Elliott about his holding most of the game.

“Finally, I told the refs to start making the call instead of warning him,” the senior forward said. “I just threw an elbow to get his arm off me. The official said it was flagrant, but it wasn’t. I apologized to him later.

“Tonight was just a culmination of what has been happening (to me) all year. It finally got to me.”

It’s doubtful that Dowell’s presence in the second half would have made much difference. When he was ejected, Arizona had expanded a 39-33 halftime lead to 51-39.

Things went downhill for the Trojans thereafter as Arizona shot 68.2% in the second half, 61.7% for the game. USC, the worst shooting team in the Pac-10, remained so--23.1% in the second half, 30.4% for the game.

USC guard Brad Winslow made his contribution, though, with 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including three three-point baskets.

But he couldn’t offset Elliott, Tolbert (16), and McMillan (11).

“Losing Derrick didn’t help, it just compounded the situation,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “I believe that in any endeavor in life, when you’re a visible person, people will take their shots at you and you have to deal with it.

“I think losing and the frustration of all year just hit a peak with Derrick tonight. But in defense of him, he has had a great year despite the physical beatings he has taken.”

Raveling said he didn’t see the play and wasn’t sure whether the foul was worthy of ejection.

Those who saw it would say it was definitely worthy.

As for the game, Raveling said the Wildcats, who routed USC, 78-44, last month in Tucson, set the tone by out-muscling the Trojans early in the game.

“We lost some extra points on blown layups, and I was surprised we were only six points down at halftime,” he said. “Their big guys were much more physical than ours on the backboards. And we didn’t play Elliott and McMillan like we were instructed to play them.”

Although the final spread was only 12 points, Arizona was breezing in the second half, leading by 20 points on two occasions.