Trojans Slow Welp but Get Burned by 3-Pointers in 95-82 Loss to Huskies

It’s going to be a long, long year for George Raveling, especially because of the three-point shot.

Raveling’s USC Trojans attempted to out-muscle Washington’s front line Tuesday night in Hec Edmondson Pavilion and ended up getting burned from the outside in losing 95-82 in a Pacific-10 Conference game.

Husky guard Greg Hill, an Southern California product from El Camino College, hit on in six three-point shots to open up the game in the first half. Hill finished with a career-high 24 points.

“I’ll say it again, I’m against it,” Raveling said after the game. “And not because it was a thorn in our side.

“I don’t think the three-point shot makes a positive contribution to the game . . . It turns it into a shot putting contest . . . It’s non-sensical. It also distracts the officials because they have to watch where the guy’s feet are.”

The Trojans, 0-2 in league play and 4-5 overall, got 32 points and 14 rebounds from forward Derrick Dowell, who went out and made a pair of three-pointers himself.

For the game, they made 5 of 6 from the three-point range to Washington’s 8 of 14. But by the time USC started to take those shots, Hill had helped Washington (2-0, 6-4) open a double-digit lead.

The Huskies coasted in the second half with leads of 20 or more points. Behind Dowell, Rick Grande and Rod Keller, USC put on a last-gasp surge to get back in it in the last two minutes, cutting the lead to 91-82. But it was too late.

Grande added 14 points and Keller 12 for Trojans.

Raveling said his strategy going into the game was to cram the middle and shut off 7-foot center Chris Welp and 6-10 forward Phil Zevenbergen. The idea, he said, was to get the ball in the hands of small forward Kevin Vidato, a 3.1 scorer.

“It backfired on us,” Raveling said. After the Huskies moved in front 45-34 at the half, Vidato made 15 of his 17 points in the second half to keep the Trojans at a distance.

“I’d definitely do it again,” he said. “I like my chances of him beating us than Chris (Welp) beating us.”

The Trojans did hold Welp to only 13, his second-lowest output of the season, but other players compensated. Five Huskies scored in double figures, led by Hill’s 24 and Zevenbergen’s 20.

Huskie Coach Andy Russo said it was the first zone played against his team this year.

“We definitely took advantage of what they were going to give us.

“Hill is one of the more underrated players in the conference. He’s one of the guys everybody should be talking about,” Raveling said.

“They’d be in real trouble if he got hurt.”

Raveling was upset about the officiating, particularly in the first half, and had some angry words to say to referee Booker Turner at the halftime buzzer. For that he drew a technical foul, as state troopers came on the floor to prevent any flare-up.

USC was outscored 25-5 from the foul line, getting only 13 chances to Washington’s 34.

In the first half, Hill hit four three-pointers and Al Moscatel two for Washington out of 10 attempts.

Dowell and Brad Winslow had the lone extra-point shots for USC out of only three tries.

But the Huskies still had a 19-12 advantage on the boards.

Moscatel broke open a relatively tight game with his two straight three-pointers at the 10-minute mark, giving Washington a 16-12 lead.

The Trojans came back with a three-point shot by Winslow and baskets by Rod Keller and Dowell to move in front 19-18.

After a Welp layin, USC came back with a stuff by Ivan Verbeckt to lead 21-20 with 8:35 left in the half, the last time USC held the lead.

Trojan Notes

Washington coach Andy Russo and Washington State coach Len Stevens are griping about Pacific-10 teams beginning their conference schedules before Christmas. Because students are away on Christmas vacation, attendance has plummeted, they say. The Huskies drew 5,474 for Sunday’s game with UCLA. Last year the same game brought 7,334. In Pullman, the decline was more pronounced. Friday’s WSU upset over the Bruins drew 3,500 and Saturday’s win over USC brought 3,200. Last year, the two games, played in January, drew 6,000 and 5,800, respectively. “I am upset, I really am,” Russo told a Seattle newspaper. The conference schedule was moved up to accommodate the league’s new post-season tournament. “If they want to shorten the (league) schedule, or make it more practical, that’s fine,” Russo said. “But the way it is now is terrible. Something has to be done.” . . . The Huskies’ Chris Welp moved past James Edwards into second place on the school’s all-time scoring list. Welp has 1,552 and Edwards 1,548. Bob Houbregs, a two-time All-American in the 1950s, is the leader with 1,774. . . . In his 11 years at Washington State, George Raveling was 3-8 against Washington at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, 8-15 overall.