Trojans Keep Their Hopes Alive

Perceived as an offensive team, USC’s basketball team has begun fine-tuning its defense to prepare for the NCAA tournament.

“I really feel at this time of the year that defense is the most important aspect of the game,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “The one constant is defense. The last two weeks we’ve probably devoted 80% of our time in practice to defense.”

And all that hard work on defense paid off as the 10th-ranked Trojans held Arizona State to one point in the final 2:06 of an 81-66 victory over the Sun Devils Thursday night before 5,627 at the Sports Arena.

The victory kept alive the Trojans’ hopes for winning their first Pacific 10 title since 1985.

USC, 22-5 overall and 14-3 in the Pac-10, is alone in second place, a game behind first-place UCLA with one game remaining. The Bruins clinched at least a tie for the title by defeating No. 2 Arizona, 89-81, Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion.

The Trojans conclude their regular season against Arizona, which beat the Trojans by 39 points in their Pac-10 opener, Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Sports Arena. UCLA plays Arizona State later Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

“Well, we’re one step closer,” Raveling said. “I guess we’re going to have to do it the hard way. I feel good about where we are right now.”

With Arizona State trailing, 69-60, Sun Devil guard Dwayne Fontana scored five points in a row, a three-point shot with 3:08 left and an eight-foot jumper to trim the Trojans’ lead to 69-65 with 2:06 remaining.

However, USC increased its defensive pressure and outscored the Sun Devils, 12-1, as Arizona State missed its last six shots, including five three-point attempts.

“We put ourselves in a position to win, but we couldn’t follow through,” Arizona State Coach Bill Frieder said. “USC’s defense just kept coming at us. They kept switching on us, from the press to a trap, and it was very effective.”

Raveling altered his defensive alignments throughout the game, switching from a matchup zone to a man-to-man defense in an attempt to confuse the Sun Devils (18-12, 9-8).

“I thought our defense kept them confused out there,” Raveling said. “I don’t think they could tell if we were in a zone or a man-to-man. We tried to keep them out of a comfortable offensive rhythm.”

With USC leading by four points, Trojan guard Duane Cooper, who scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, made a three-point shot from the top of the key off a pass from Harold Miner (a game-high 26 points), to give the Trojans a 72-65 lead with 1:22 left.

The Trojans, who made a season-high 29 free throws, made seven of eight free throws to seal their fifth victory in their last six games. Guard Rodney Chatman, who had 14 points in a reserve role, made four free throws in the final 1:01, Cooper made two free throws and forward Mark Boyd sank a free throw.

Miner, who had made just 12 of 35 shots (34.2%) in his last two games, broke out of a shooting slump by hitting nine of 15 shots. He also had a game-high 12 rebounds and two assists.

“I thought Harold did a great job of allowing the offense to come to him,” Raveling said. “He might not have scored 40 points, but he played an excellent game. He didn’t force his shots.”

Trojan Notes

George Raveling, who notched his 300th career victory, was named national coach of the year by Basketball Weekly. Raveling has a 300-266 record in 20 seasons. He has a 79-93 mark in six seasons at USC but is 44-16 since March of 1990. . . . Trojan guard Harold Miner was named a first team All-American by the U.S. Basketball Writers, Basketball Times and Basketball Weekly. He is the first Trojan to make first team All-American since Gus Williams in 1975. Miner needs 14 points to become the second player in conference history to score 2,000 points in three seasons. USC, 13-1 at home this season, has won 17 of its last 18 home games, including eight in a row. The Trojans are 27-3 at the Sports Arena since March of 1990.