USC Rallies, Extends Streak to Five, 85-83 : College basketball: Miner makes two free throws with eight seconds to play, keeping Cal winless in the Pacific 10.

USC Coach George Raveling sarcastically thanked fate after the Trojans overcame a five-point deficit in the final 41 seconds and defeated Cal, 85-83, before 6,578 at Harmon Arena on Saturday.

“We were lucky,” Raveling said after Harold Miner made two free throws with eight seconds to play to lift the Trojans (13-3, 5-1) to their fifth consecutive victory.

“I’d like to sit here and tell you it was some great coaching,” Raveling said. “If I was at Stanford or Cal, you’d probably think it was intellectual, but since I’m at SC I’m sure (Stanford football Coach) Bill Walsh would say it was luck. But we’ll take it.

“We’re just a little school in L.A. We don’t have those brain surgeons like Cal and Stanford. But I know one damn thing. We won.”

Cal didn’t play with much intelligence in the final 41 seconds in losing its fifth consecutive game. But that’s why the Golden Bears (6-9, 0-5) are the only Pacific 10 team that has yet to win a conference game this season.

With USC trailing by 83-78, Trojan guard Duane Cooper, who got five of his 17 points in the final 27 seconds, made a three-point shot to cut the deficit to 83-81 with 27 seconds to play.

Cal worked the ball downcourt before calling a timeout with 14 seconds remaining. Inbounding the ball underneath his basket, Cal guard K.J. Roberts threw a pass to center Brian Hendrick at midcourt. However, the pass was underthrown and Trojan guard Rodney Chatman knocked the ball downcourt to Cooper, who was tackled by Cal guard Billy Dreher as he was driving for a layup. Dreher was called for an intentional foul.

Cooper was surprised by the call.

“I just thought it was going to be a one-and-one (free-throw situation),” Cooper said. “But I think it put more pressure on me because you get more relaxed when you have two free throws and then you get the ball out. I hadn’t been shooting well all year from the free-throw line, but I gave it my routine and said something positive, and the shots fell.”

Dreher said he was trying to keep Cooper from getting an easy shot, adding that he, too, was surprised that he was called for an intentional foul.

Cooper’s free throws tied the score, 83-83, with 10 seconds to play. The Trojans ran a play for Miner on the inbounds pass and Miner took a three-point shot from the left wing off a screen. Miner missed, but he was fouled by Alfred Grigsby.

Miner, who had 31 points, made two of three free throws.

“There’s nobody that I know playing basketball today that I’d rather have on the line for me than Harold Miner,” Raveling said. “I’ll take my chances with Harold any day of the week.”

Cal had two shots at winning, but Roberts missed a three-point shot from the left wing and Hendrick, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds, missed an off-balance shot as time expired.

“This is a frustrating loss,” Hendrick said. “It was just brutal. I thought we really had it when we had a five-point lead. We did everything to win, and they snuck away with it.”

Trojan Notes

It was USC’s first Pac-10 road sweep since 1985, when the Trojans defeated Washington and Washington State. This is USC’s best start since 1975, when the Trojans won 13 of their first 16 games. . . . USC guard Harold Miner needs 30 points to break the school scoring record of 1,727 point set by Ronnie Coleman.