Hot-Shooting Ducks Sink Trojans, 96-79 : College basketball: Oregon is talking about a possible NCAA bid after moving into fourth place in the Pac-10.

EUGENE, Ore. —  When his players offered only token resistance in the first half Sunday, falling behind Oregon by 13 points at McArthur Court, USC Coach George Raveling threw up his hands and threw away his chalk.

Almost as soon as the startled Trojans reached the locker room at halftime, Raveling sent them back out onto the floor.

“There wasn’t a whole lot that could be corrected on the (chalk) board,” Raveling explained. “What we needed was a change of mental attitude. We didn’t need a change of strategy. We just needed some guys who wanted to play basketball. We didn’t have any that wanted to play today.”

Even if it had, USC might not have been able to beat the surging Ducks, who made 62.3% of their shots and romped, 96-79, after making 65% of their shots last Thursday night in a 105-99 victory over UCLA.

Picked by several preseason publications to finish last in the Pacific 10 Conference race, Oregon has won four consecutive games to improve to 15-10 overall and move into fourth place in the conference at 10-6.

And Coach Don Monson, who told his players that 15 wins would get them into the NIT, now has his sights on a grander prize.

“We’ve been in the NIT before, but the way these kids are playing, let’s look at the (NCAA) tournament,” Monson said. “All I know is that you’re at the mercy of the (selection) committee.”

USC (9-15, 4-12) was at the mercy of the Ducks.

Eight of the previous 11 USC-Oregon games had been decided by four points or less, and Oregon had won the previous three on last-second shots, but this one was all but over midway through the second half.

Connecting on nine of their first 10 shots after halftime, the Ducks rolled out to a 73-49 lead with 13:19 left.

USC cut its deficit to 10, but never got any closer.

“Getting beat doesn’t bother me nearly as much as how we got beat,” Raveling said. “It seemed like we had no interest in playing the game. And based on how we’d been playing lately, this game was a total shock to me. It’s got me puzzled.

“I don’t think we showed any enthusiasm to play. I don’t think we showed any mental toughness. We didn’t have any team play. It was just a total breakdown, and I don’t know how to explain it because we had made such tremendous strides. Never in my life would I have thought we’d come in here and play like we played.”

The loss was the Trojans’ fourth in a row, but their previous three were by a total of 10 points, including a 98-94 overtime decision last Thursday night against conference-leading Oregon State.

Senior forward Keith Reynolds, playing his last game at McArthur Court, led Oregon with 26 points, making 12 of 16 shots. And sophomore guard Terrell Brandon, who scored a season-high 31 points against UCLA, contributed 25 points (on nine-of-13 shooting) and nine assists.

But two other seniors, guard Steve Ranninger and forward Eric Dunn, provided as much drama for the crowd of 8,460. Monson, honoring a long-standing personal tradition, made them starters for their last home game, and each played well enough to merit a standing ovation.

Ranninger, who had played fewer minutes than all but one other Duck, scored a season-high 11 points in 18 minutes.

And Dunn, who lost his starting position to Bob Fife midway through the season, made five of six shots, scored 13 points, took six rebounds and passed for three assists in 20 minutes.

Trojan Notes

Harold Miner scored 18 points to pass Tom Lewis as USC’s all-time leading freshman scorer. Miner has 488 points in 24 games. Lewis scored 475 points in the 1985-86 season before transferring to Pepperdine. . . . Miner needs 90 points to break the Pac-10 freshman scoring record of 577 points, set last season by UCLA’s Don MacLean. USC has at least three games remaining. . . . USC’s Calvin Banks, a starter in all but one of USC’s 23 games before Sunday, played only three minutes because of a pulled groin muscle. Banks was injured before Thursday night’s game at Oregon State when he stepped on a television cable.