USC Shooting Goes Amiss in 51-49 Loss to Ducks; ASU Wins

A disappointing season ended in desperation for USC’s basketball team Thursday night in the Pacific 10 tournament at Pauley Pavilion.

Oregon held on to win, 51-49, in a first-round game as the Trojans’ poor shooting betrayed them, as it had all season.

Guard Brad Winslow threw up a high, arching three-point shot with three seconds left, but it didn’t go down. Then, forward Derrick Dowell missed on a hurried follow shot at the buzzer.

So USC, the last-place team in the regular season, was one of the first to exit from the tournament.

In an earlier game, Arizona State pulled away from Washington State in the second half to win, 76-60. The Sun Devils will play top-seeded UCLA today in a 3 p.m. game. Oregon advanced to a second-round game at 9 p.m. against second-seeded Arizona.

In a rough, tense game, USC held the lead most of the second half, but Oregon guard David Girley made a 12-foot jump shot to provide his team with a 50-49 lead with 2:07 remaining. The advantage stood up.

USC guard Rich Grande missed two jump shots in the final 1:38, and Dowell forced a shot with 10 seconds remaining.

Oregon guard Anthony Taylor then made the first free throw on a one-and-one but missed the second, and USC controlled the ball.

But Winslow and Dowell misfired.

“We had set the play up at the previous timeout,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “It’s a play we call ‘blitz,’ and we got Winslow open. Brad has the best range among our shooters. The ball just didn’t go in.

“Our kids worked hard, but it’s difficult to win when you have two starters who didn’t contribute.”

There are some candidates: USC’s guards were a combined 1 for 20 from the field; Winslow was 0 for 9; Grande was 0 for 8; Harris was 0 for 2, and Ruben Goodsell threw up a sloppy shot that went in on his only attempt.

So the Trojans finished the season with a 9-19 overall record, while the Ducks are still going at 15-13.

Dowell carried the Trojans as he has most of the season. He scored 16 points in the first half but got only one basket in the second half and finished with 22 points.

Of his shot that missed with 10 seconds left, he said:

“The coach wanted us to take a shot with a decent amount of time left. I glanced up, and there were 12 seconds left. I feel much better if the loss is in my hands because I’ve been through a lot. I thought it was a good shot considering time on the clock, although they were double- and triple-teaming me.”

USC, the worst shooting team in the conference, shot only 28% in the second half, 33.9% for the game.

The Trojans did get an inspired rebounding effort from senior center Rod Keller and freshman forward Chris Munk. Keller pulled down 10 rebounds, while Munk grabbed 13 in 31 minutes.

When USC was introduced, the crowd booed. Pauley is, after all, Bruin territory. Oregon was treated more kindly.

A crowd of only 4,851 was present, although 9,212 tickets have been sold for the tournament.

The Trojans seemed lethargic, shooting poorly and not geting back on defense early in the first half. As a result, the Ducks took charge of the game and, after an 8-0 spurt, led, 24-10, with 6:53 remaining before halftime.

Then, USC suddenly got into the game. And, as usual, Dowell was the catalyst.

After forward Bob Erbst scored on a layup, Dowell got an inside basket and then hit from the side. Next, he stole the ball from Kenny Sprague and went in for a layup.

After Winslow made two free throws, Dowell got a rebound basket as the Trojans kept chopping away at the Ducks’ margin.

The Trojan surge ended when Munk made a follow with one second left in the first half to tie the game at 28-28.

It was an 18-4 run by USC after it trailed by 14 points.

Arizona State beat Washington State for the third time this season by making a blistering run in the second half.

The Cougars led by 10 points on three occasions in the first half, but the Sun Devils rebounded for a 30-30 tie at halftime.

Arizona State led, 55-50, with 8:36 left when guards Steve Beck and Arthur Thomas put the game away.

Beck got an 19-5 surge going with a three-point basket, and then he and Thomas alternated in driving for baskets through WSU’s porous defense.

Washington State’s strength is its front line, but it was out-rebounded, 37-25, by Arizona State, a guard-oriented team.

Arizona State’s guards--Beck, Thomas and Bobby Thompson--accounted for 46 of their team’s 76 points.

“Our goal when we first got here was to make it to the field of eight,” Arizona State Coach Steve Patterson said. “Our immediate goal now is to get to the field of four. UCLA is playing with a lot of confidence and shooting well. They’re shooting so well I really don’t know how we’ll beat them.”

The Sun Devils managed to do it in their last meeting with the Bruins Feb. 16, winning, 67-64, at Pauley Pavilion on Thomas’ three-point shot with four seconds remaining.