Oregon Gives Trojans a Scare : College basketball: Late free throws by Chatman help USC win its ninth consecutive game, 69-68.

USC Coach George Raveling let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow after the 13th-ranked Trojans held off Oregon, 69-68, Thursday night before 5,401 at McArthur Court.

“I’ll tell you, there’s got to be an easier way to make a living than this,” Raveling said after USC extended its winning streak to nine games and remained tied with UCLA for the Pacific 10 lead. “It’s getting hard on the old man. Every time I think we’ve run out of miracles or ways to win, we find a new one.”

USC held a 65-62 lead after Oregon guard Antoine Stoudamire, who had 32 points, made a follow shot with 1:30 remaining. Trojan guard Harold Miner, who also had 32 points, responded with a jumper from the right baseline to give USC a five-point lead with 1:07 left.

But Stoudamire sank a three-point shot from the left wing with 51 seconds left to trim the lead to 67-65.

The Trojans ran the clock down to 17 seconds before Oregon guard Orlando Williams fouled guard Rodney Chatman. Chatman made two free throws to give the Trojans a four-point lead.

“The crowd was pretty loud, but I just blocked them out and went through my routine and made the free throws,” Chatman said. “I winked at Harold because I knew I was going to make them.”

After Stoudamire missed a three-pointer, Oregon forward Clyde Jordan sank a three-point jumper with two seconds left. The Ducks called time out with one second left, but USC inbounded the ball and ran out the clock.

It was the second consecutive close call for USC, which was coming off a three-point victory over Washington and is 6-0 in games decided by five points or less.

“It was a close one, but you’ve got to win the close ones, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Miner said. “We’re a confident group, and we feel we can come through when the game is on the line. We’ve proven that in the past three games.”

Although USC (17-3, 9-1) hasn’t played well in its last two games, shooting only 35.2%, Raveling doesn’t think the Trojans have hit a lull.

“Over the course of a 28- or 29-game season you’re going to have some games when you’re going to be flat, and you’re not going to shoot the ball well particularly on the road,” Raveling said.

Trailing by 12 points after Miner opened the second half by hitting two three-point shots, Oregon outscored USC, 21-9, to tie it at 54-54 when forward Jeff Potter made a layup with 10:03 left. But USC blitzed Oregon 9-2 to take a seven-point lead.

Center Yamen Sanders, who missed nine of his first 11 shots, made a layup and guard Duane Cooper, who missed seven of his first eight shots, made a steal and sank a layup to start the spurt. After Jordan hit a rebound basket, Chatman followed with a three-point play, making a layup and a free throw, and Miner sank a jumper from the right baseline to extend USC’s lead to 63-56.

Miner, the only Trojan in double figures, made 11 of 19 shots, including four of 10 three-pointers.

Trojan Notes

This is USC’s longest winning streak since 1971, when the Trojans won their first 16 games and it’s the Trojans’ longest winning streak in conference play since 1940, when they won nine straight. . . . Trojan guard Harold Miner, who last week became the Trojans’ all-time leading scorer, has 1,793 career points. . . . Oregon, which has lost eight of its last nine games, fell to 6-13 overall and 2-8 in the Pac-10.