USC Is Finally Able to Break Away From UC Irvine

After playing five games in eight nights, USC gets a two-week break before its next game, but UC Irvine pushed the Trojans to the limit in the Freedom Bowl Tournament.

Guard Harold Miner scored 28 points as USC defeated the Anteaters, 80-71, Saturday night at Irvine’s Bren Center.

Miner made only seven of 19 shots, including three of eight three-point tries, but he made 11 of 12 free throws and also had 10 rebounds.

“I got in the flow tonight and hit some big shots,” Miner said. “When you hit the big shots, that’s what’s important to me.”

Trailing 60-59 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining, USC blitzed the Anteaters, 11-0, to take control. Guard Dwayne Hackett had five points in the run, hitting a three-point shot and two free throws, Duane Cooper added a three-pointer, Miner hit two free throws and center Yamen Sanders added a basket.

Cooper had 16 points and four assists and Sanders added 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds for USC (6-1), which has won five in a row.

Guard David Holloway and forward Elgin Rogers had 19 apiece to lead UC Irvine (1-3).

“Holloway got hot and began to eat us up,” Miner said. “It’s hard to stop a player when he’s on a roll.”

It was only the second meeting between USC and UC Irvine, which defeated the Trojans, 78-66, in 1983 at the Sports Arena. But Rod Baker, the Anteaters’ new coach, apparently viewed it as a pivotal game.

Baker put his team through a midnight practice after the Anteaters lost to Houston, 73-51, Friday night. UC Irvine practiced again Saturday.

The hard work paid off as the Anteaters, who trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, outscored USC, 19-13, in the first 12 minutes of the second half to take a one-point lead.

“We fooled them into thinking they belonged in this game,” Baker said. “They understand what they did was a pretty good thing. We can’t be content with being close. We can only be content with winning.”

Sanders, who failed to score in USC’s victory over Kent Friday night, got USC off to a fast start, scoring six of the Trojans’ first 12 points as USC took a 12-6 lead.

Miner, who had 17 points in the first half, then took over, scoring seven consecutive points as the Trojans built a 30-21 advantage.

Trojan Notes

USC reserve forward Keith Greeley quit the team before the game. Hampered by an ankle injury, Greeley had scored only nine points in five games, averaging 9.8 minutes a game. “He was disappointed with the role I assigned him,” USC Coach George Raveling said. . . . Harold Miner set a USC record with his 134th three-point basket, breaking Anthony Pendleton’s record of 133. . . . Craig Upchurch scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Houston defeated Kent, 80-56, in the early game. Tyrone Evans added 14 points for Houston (5-1). Mike Klinzinf led Kent (2-2) with 18 points.

USC is off until Dec. 21, when it faces Ohio State at the Sports Arena, where the Trojans have won seven in a row and 17 of their last 21 games. UC Irvine takes a break for final exams, resuming play on Dec. 16 with a game at Loyola Marymount. The Anteaters then travel to Illinois for games against Loyola of Chicago on Dec. 19 and Bradley on Dec. 21.