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GAME NOTES: The Oregon Ducks have suffered five consecutive defeats, and they limp into Los Angeles for a Pac-10 Conference clash with the USC Trojans.

Last Saturday, Oregon struggled mightily at the offensive end in a 64-49 loss to California. That setback marked the third time during the current slide that the Ducks have been held to 51 or fewer points, proof of their offensive struggles. They are now 12-14 on the season and carry a 4-10 league ledger into this affair.

As for USC, it carried a four-game win streak and plenty of confidence into last Saturday's road test with Washington State. Unfortunately, the Trojans were held in check offensively in a 51-47 defeat. They are now 16-10 overall and 8-6 in Pac-10 action, and a strong finish to the regular season could put the squad in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Oregon beat USC by a 67-57 final on January 30th, but the Trojans still own a 62-43 advantage in the all-time series.

It is certainly ironic that Oregon is both scoring and surrendering the exact same amount of points (69.7 ppg) 26 games into the season. Malcolm Armstead is the top scorer for the Ducks, but his average of 11.0 ppg can best be described as modest. What is impressive, however, is that he has recorded 54 steals to complement 4.3 apg. Tajuan Porter is the only other double-digit scorer in the fold with his 10.7 ppg, but his 34.3 percent shooting from the field is downright horrendous. Jeremy Jacob scored 14 points for Oregon against California last time out, but the Ducks shot only 34.1 percent from the field, including 1-of-11 from three-point range. They finished the game with an embarrassing total of one assist against 13 turnovers.

USC is scoring 60.1 ppg this season on 43.8 percent shooting, and that output is rather modest by any standards. Fortunately, the Trojans have excelled at the defensive end of the court, holding opponents to 56.4 ppg on 37.9 percent shooting. Dwight Lewis continues to pace USC with 14.0 ppg, and Nikola Vucevic adds 11.7 ppg and 9.7 rpg. In the recent loss to Washington State, the Trojans were limited to 38 percent shooting from the floor, including 2-of-14 from three-point range. They suffered a 37-28 rebounding disadvantage and were outscored 14-7 from the foul line. Lewis scored 14 points in that affair, and Vucevic finished with a dozen.

The Trojans will knock off the Ducks to earn a split in the season series between the two clubs. Strong defense will be the key to success for USC as usual.