Trojans Never Trail, but Fail to Pull Away : College basketball: USC holds off Oregon State, 82-76, after building a 19-point lead. Orr scores 21 points.

The best thing about USC’s 82-76 victory over Oregon State on Thursday night, from the Trojans’ perspective, was that the Trojans never trailed.

Other than that, there were not too many positives about USC’s Pacific 10 Conference opener.

The Trojans opened a 19-point second-half lead before holding on to improve to 8-2.

Before a Sports Arena crowd of 3,128, USC struggled to put away the overmatched Beavers (4-6), who outscored the Trojans, 29-15, over a nine-minute span late in the second half.

“Our defense just lacked intensity and effort,” USC junior Lorenzo Orr said. “That is the main reason why they came back on us.”

Orr led USC with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, with sophomore guard Brandon Martin adding 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite a sluggish start in which the Trojans had six turnovers and only three assists,USC led at halftime, 43-31, after making 13 of 16 free throws.

The Trojans really took command of the game with aggressive defensive play to open the second half in taking a 56-37 lead on a breakaway dunk by Orr five minutes into the half.

That, however, is when things began to fall apart for the Trojans as Oregon State charged back behind the scoring of former Ventura College standout Stephane Brown, who scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half.

Brown scored from all over the floor as Oregon State closed to within 79-76 with 20 seconds to play. USC was able to pull the game out by making five of six free throws down the stretch.

“We know that free throws are important,” said reserve USC forward Tremayne Anchrum, who scored eight points and had eight rebounds in 17 minutes. “Our free-throw shooting in the second half (11 of 20 for 55%), however, should have been like we did in the first half (81.3%).”

What helped USC hold off the Beavers was its offensive rebounding. The Trojans outrebounded Oregon State, 47-33, with 25 coming at the offensive end.

“It is evident from the statistics that the difference in the game was the backboard play by USC,” Oregon State Coach Jim Anderson said. “They overpowered us on the offensive boards.”

With senior Mark Boyd (12 points and only four rebounds) having an off night, USC got unexpected rebounding help from guards Martin and Stais Boseman, who had 10 and five, respectively. The Trojans also received added scoring from point guard Burt Harris, who came off the bench to score 13 points.

“Tonight was a clear indication of the obvious immaturity of our team,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “We just lacked the maturity to be able to deal with game situations and administer them properly. We had the game put away. But we lacked intensity and defense.”

Trojan notes

Former USC standout and Miami Heat guard Harold Miner will be honored Saturday when the Trojans play Oregon at the Sports Arena at 11 a.m. USC is 46-5 in the Sports Arena since March of 1990, including a 26-2 record against Pac-10 teams.