Oregon Is First Pac-10 Foe : Can Turnaround Continue for USC?

USC’s basketball team has a 6-3 record, but it will begin a new season tonight when it opens Pacific 10 conference play against Oregon at McArthur Court.

The Trojans figure to be more competitive in the conference race than they were last year when they finished eighth with a 6-12 record.

USC gained some stature by extending No. 2-ranked Duke before losing, 75-73, in the final of the Trojan-Bud Light tournament last Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

“No one on our team plays 40 minutes, so my greatest concern is that those who play 33 minutes give us a concentrated effort for 33 minutes,” Coach Stan Morrison said Wednesday. “We can’t afford any three- to four-minute naps. If we can eliminate that and keep the same look in our eyes as we’ve had in practice and in the Duke game, we can be right in the middle of what (Oregon State coach) Ralph Miller says will be the toughest conference dogfight in 20 years.”

The Trojans certainly will have some incentive tonight against the Ducks, who humiliated USC last year in Eugene, 80-49.

“We were thoroughly embarrassed last year,” Morrison said. “They did a number on us and I hope that is in the minds of our players.”

Morrison said that his team has been getting strong senior leadership from forwards Wayne Carlander and Ron Holmes, along with 6-10 center Clayton Olivier, who has been bothered by foot injuries during his USC career.

“Clayton is showing more quickness, explosiveness and animation than he ever has,” Morrison said.

But Derrick Dowell is the player who may lift USC above mediocrity. The sophomore forward from Evansville, Ind., has excelled in all phases of the game lately.

He scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, 9 on the offensive boards, against Duke. The entire Duke team had only six offensive rebunds.

Dowell is also one of the best passing forwards in the conference.

USC’s backcourt may be suspect, however. Point guard Larry Friend is averaging 7.2 assists a game, but he doesn’t supply much offense. A reluctant shooter, he is scoring only 4.8 points a game. At 5-11, he can also be posted up by bigger, stronger guards.

Morrison said that he isn’t concerned about Friend’s lack of offense as long as the four other starters are scoring, adding that the players feel comfortable with the small guard.

Glenn Smith, who operates as both a guard and forward coming off the bench, is shooting only 36.8% from the field, but Morrison says that Smith is a better shooter than statistics indicate.

Morrison has a decent bench and he has been using Smith, centers Charlie Simpson and Rod Keller, freshman forward Brad Winslow and, on occasion, forward Kevin Steward.

At the start of the season, Oregon figured among the contenders for the conference championship. Coach Don Monson, the former Idaho coach, turned the Ducks around last season, his first at the school. Under Coach Jim Haney in 1982-83, Oregon was 9-18 overall and 5-13 in the Pac-10. Last season, the Ducks finished 16-13 and 11-7 in the conference, good for third place.

But Oregon is 7-6 now and hasn’t been performing to expectations. Blair Rasmussen, the Ducks’ 7-foot center and a two-time All-Pac-10 selection, has been particularly inconsistent.

He is more of a finesse center than a power postman, but, as a senior, he was expected to assert himself more than he has.

The word in Oregon is that the Ducks miss the court leadership of forward David Brantley, who has graduated.

Still, the Ducks have a formidable front line of Rasmussen, who is averaging 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds; 6-7 Gregg Trapp and 6-7 Mike Matheson, who has relegated 6-8 Jerry Adams, a former starter, to a reserve role.

The backcourt includes 6-2 Chris Harper from Riverside and 6-4 freshman Anthony Taylor, Oregon’s prep player of the year last season at Beaverton.

But Oregon may put it together tonight. The Ducks’ home court is known as The Pit and, Morrison said there is no arena in the conference with a more hostile environment.

Trojan Notes

Tonight’s game will start at 7:35. . . . Coach Stan Morrison said there is a possibility that the Trojan-Bud Light tournament may be moved to another date next season, since attendance was disappointing. There were crowds of only about 5,000 on Friday and Saturday nights. Morrison cited the absence of students over the holiday break and the Christmas season as factors for the low attendance. . . . Morrison still favors Washington and Oregon State in the conference race, adding that Washington State is a sleeper and that California, his alma mater, has improved. . . . Ron Holmes leads USC in scoring, averaging 17 points while shooting 48.7%. Wayne Carlander is the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 15.1 points, and No. 2 rebounder, averaging 7.3. Derrick Dowell, at 6-6, is the No. 1 rebounder with 8.4 a game, and third-leading scorer at 12.9. . . . Oregon swept both USC and UCLA last year for the first time since 1977. . . . Oregon is on the road for four games after tonight’s Pac-10 opener with USC. . . . As a team, USC is shooting 48.6%, Oregon 47.3%.