Shots Not Falling for Trepagnier

By his own admission Jeff Trepagnier is in a rut.

The Trojan shooting guard said Friday that he hasn’t felt right the last three games, and his numbers reflect it.

Since scoring a career-high 26 points against UCLA, Trepagnier has totaled 37 against Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon. In those three games, he has made only 14 of 34 shots, three of 10 in Thursday’s 68-67 loss to Oregon.

“I am in a slump,” he said. “But I’m going to continue to keep my head up and not get discouraged. I’m not going to let this bring me down.

“I feel the shots have been good ones; they just haven’t been falling lately.”

*

With a little more than a minute to play Thursday, Brandon Granville had already missed a free throw. But the officials determined that the crowd, stamping on the bleachers, had caused the basket to sway slightly.

After Duck Coach Ernie Kent instructed the crowd to stop, Granville was given a chance to start over. He made the make-up free throw, then added the bonus.

Those were the last points USC scored.

“I thought it was a good call,” Trojan Coach Henry Bibby said. “Before that, when Nate Hair was up there, I thought the basket was shaking on his two attempts. Have I seen that before? No. But you don’t see too many baskets shaking like that.”

Hair, who had his best game for the Trojans with a career-high 13 points, was praised by Bibby.

“I liked what he did out there,” the coach said. “You can’t say anything negative about his game. He knocked down shots when we needed them.”

TONIGHT

at Oregon State, 7

* Site--Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Ore.

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Records--USC 12-6, 5-1; Oregon State 10-7, 2-4.

* Update--Thursday’s one-point loss to Oregon ended a seven-game winning streak, so USC wants to get back to its winning ways and stay high in the conference standings. The Beavers, on the other hand, have lost all four conference games at home, and overall have lost five of their last eight games.