USC Scares Arizona but Loses

If there were a column for moral victories in the Pacific 10 basketball standings, USC would have at least one, an 87-85 loss to No. 6 Arizona Thursday night.

USC squandered two chances to beat the Wildcats in the final 15 seconds, missing two shots as Arizona extended its home-court winning streak to 55 games, the longest in the nation.

“Sometimes in life you can win and lose, and sometimes in life you can lose and win,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “We might have lost tonight, but we grew as a team.”

Trailing, 86-85, after guard Harold Miner drilled a three-point shot with 20 seconds remaining, the Trojans forced a turnover by Arizona forward Sean Rooks, who threw the ball away while trying to pass to teammate Ed Stokes on an inbounds play after Miner’s shot.

Almost everyone in the sellout crowd of 13,829 at McKale Arena expected that the Trojans would try to work the ball to Miner, who had a game-high 26 points; or forward Ronnie Coleman, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Instead, USC went to guard Phil Glenn, who launched a three-pointer that went into the basket and came back out with 15 seconds left.

“When I released it I knew it was going in,” Glenn said. “And even when it hit the rim I thought it would fall. I was really surprised to be so open. But we wanted to take the good shot early in case it didn’t fall, so we could get the rebound.”

“It was a wide open shot, and it was a quality shot,” Raveling said. “The only thing you might question is that there was a lot of time left on the clock.”

The Wildcats got the rebound after Glenn’s miss, and the Trojans had to foul to get the ball back, sending Matt Othick to the free- throw line. But Othick missed two free throws with 11 seconds left, giving the Trojans one last shot.

However, guard Duane Cooper’s desperation 10-foot jump shot with four seconds left was blocked by Stokes.

“I was looking to dish (the ball to another player),” Cooper said.

“I got an eye on the basket, but there were just too many guys there.”

After Cooper’s miss, Rooks made a free throw with one-tenth of a second left for the final margin.

Distraught after missing a game-winning shot, Cooper was consoled by Raveling as they walked off the court arm-in-arm.

“This is about as tough a moment as I’ve had here at SC,” Cooper said. “We were in the game, and I felt we had the opportunity to win.”

Raveling agreed.

“To be honest with you, I thought we were going to win the game,” Raveling said. “I thought it would be one of these deals where we’d throw something up and it would go in, and we’d find out that Christmas wasn’t over.

“And dammed if it ain’t over.”

The Trojans (8-3, 0-2), who have lost 11 consecutive games to Arizona (12-2, 2-1), played well enough to win, but the game was decided at the free-throw line. Arizona attempted 33 foul shots in the second half, making 23.

“That’s probably a league record,” Raveling said of Arizona’s second half. “That was the difference in the ballgame.”

But Arizona’s second-half defense on Miner was also a factor.

After Miner scored 15 points in the first half as USC built an early nine-point lead before falling behind, 49-46, at intermission, Arizona assigned guard Matt Muehlebach to shadow Miner in a box-and-one defense.

Miner, who missed his first three shots, was held to 11 points in the second half.

“They really didn’t do anything different on me in the second half,” Miner said. “They played the same game defensively all the way.”

Trojan Notes

Forward Chris Mills led Arizona with 21 points, and forward Brian Williams added 18 points before fouling out. . . . Reserve forward Calvin Banks, who sustained a back bruise when he flipped over teammate Robert Pack in practice on Monday, didn’t make the trip. The Trojans play at Arizona State Sunday at 5 p.m.