Error-Prone USC to Play at Oregon

Just when it seemed that the USC basketball team was improving, however modestly, the Trojans committed 26 turnovers in losing to Oregon State, 84-57, Thursday night in Corvallis, Ore. The loss left George Raveling’s team mired in eighth place in the Pacific 10 Conference.

USC (3-7) will try to find the handle on its faltering season (5-14 overall) and the ball when it plays Oregon today at 3 p.m. (Channel 2) at McArthur Court in Eugene.

“There were no tell-tale signs that we weren’t ready to go to war,” Raveling said Friday. “But I knew we were in trouble when it was announced before the game that Ralph Miller (Oregon State’s coach) had been elected to the basketball Hall of Fame.”

Raveling said that his players should have responded emotionally to offset the Miller announcement. “Instead, we played just like it was another day of work,” he said.

USC’s starting guards, Dave Wiltz and Andy Olivarez, each committed seven turnovers. Raveling said that the shoddy ball handling was a mixture of OSU’s pressure and USC’s carelessness.

The Trojans are averaging 19.2 turnovers a game, worst in the conference.

Raveling also noted that Oregon State made 16 of its first 18 shots in the second half and converted on 14 of USC’s 26 turnovers.

The Ducks (9-9, 4-5) beat the Trojans, 52-40, last month at the Sports Arena. USC went scoreless for an 11-minute stretch in the second half of that game.