New Look Is No Prettier for USC

George Raveling made two lineup changes Saturday night--one out of necessity--but it seems nothing can stop USC’s slump.

The Washington Huskies, taking advantage of the struggling Trojan offense, scored a 46-41 Pacific 10 Conference victory.

Raveling kept Phil Glenn out because of a severely bruised quadriceps that made it difficult for him to maneuver. And Raveling benched Burt Harris because the freshman point guard has been playing poorly.

But replacements Rodney Chatman and Damian Powell could not stimulate an offense that had been slowing down recently and finally ground to a halt.

While the Trojans could not get an offense going until they became desperate in the closing minutes, the Huskies weren’t much better.

Prentiss Perkins, who had 10 points in the first 11 minutes, put Washington ahead early. Then, during the second half, 6-foot-10 Rich Manning made five consecutive baskets before fouling out with 6:49 to play. The Huskies led, 42-31, at the time and didn’t make another field goal, but it didn’t matter.

The Trojans, who needed some three-point baskets from Dwayne Hackett, didn’t get one from him until there was 3:37 to play. Once among the nation’s leaders in three-pointers, Hackett played 13 minutes in the first half and didn’t try one.

It was the third loss in a row for USC, and its point output has dropped in each. During the two games this week in Washington, the Trojans totaled only 92 points.

The Trojans, 4-5 in the Pacific 10 and 11-7 for the season, had 23 points and trailed by six points at halftime. Their offense was worse during the second half. It didn’t become a rout only because, except for Manning, the Huskies couldn’t score, either.

After beating California, the Trojans were 4-2 in league play and dreaming of another visit to the NCAA tournament. But right now, only Oregon is playing worse. And Oregon will get a chance to help get them out of the slump Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

“There’s not a lot I can say,” Raveling said.

“We’re playing without any confidence, especially on offense. The things we were doing three weeks ago, we aren’t doing now. We have to regroup.

“I think we should have been able to beat this team even without Glenn. We have just become stagnant on offense. We could have won this game, despite the way we played.

“It is just the halfway point of the conference season. But I intend to do something about it if I can.

“I benched Burt because I didn’t like his ratio of turnovers to assists since conference play began. Damian doesn’t bring the ball up as fast. But he makes fewer mistakes, and I thought that would help our offense.”

The Huskies are 5-4 in conference play and 11-7 overall.

Their sweep of the Los Angeles teams might have given the Huskies a false sense of security. They probably will come down to earth when the Arizona schools come in this week.

Although he had only five points after his early run, Perkins led all scorers with 15 points. Tremayne Anchrum and Chatman each had eight for the Trojans.