A slump won’t stop Lewis’ shot

The ups and why-won’t-they-go-downs of a shooter could be seen in the pendulum-like play of USC’s Dwight Lewis the last two weeks.

There was the Oregon game in which he had 26 points, matching his career high.

There was the woeful performance two days later against Oregon State, and the follow-up struggles against UCLA -- games USC lost by a total of eight points.

Lewis had made four of his last 24 shots when he came off the bench against Arizona State on Thursday.

Ancient history, he thought, as he launched his first shot, a three-pointer that seemed to ease the Trojans’ rim-clanging struggles.

“When you’re a shooter, you can only think about the next shot,” said Lewis, the Trojans’ leading scorer at 15.4 points a game. “Even the worst shooter in the world is going to hit a couple shots if he’s wide open. You’ve got to keep shooting.”

The Trojans were happy to have Lewis let it fly Thursday, especially after missing 12 consecutive shots before he fired up his first one.

Lewis took a little of the stress out of the Trojans’ play in the first half, making three three-pointers. He then started the second half by scoring eight points in a 10-0 USC run that gave the Trojans a 29-28 lead.

His outside shooting helped open the Arizona State zone defense, allowing DeMar DeRozan (22 points) and Taj Gibson (11 points) room to go inside.

“Dwight came off the bench and made some big shots for us,” Coach Tim Floyd said. “And he played some inspired defense.”

Lewis had been an iron man for two games, bouncing shots off and around the rim. It was frustrating for a player who has made 42% of his three-pointers this season.

“I had a couple go in and out, go down then come back, and every which way,” said Lewis, who is shooting 44% overall. “I’m not really a streaky shooter. I was just in a slump. It was getting in my head sometimes. I had to stop thinking about it.

“There wasn’t anything mechanically wrong. It was just those two games. I still had my confidence.”

Starting all over again

Against the Sun Devils, Lewis did not start for only the second time in USC’s last 49 games. Guard Donte Smith was inserted into the lineup.

“It was because of practice more than the last two games,” Floyd said. “I just felt like Donte had been more inspired in practice, more in tune with what we were trying to do with this game plan. We opted to go that route.”

Floyd said the move was also made to try to get more out of Smith, so he could give more rest to point guard Daniel Hackett.

“Donte is a guy we’ve got to try to buy some minutes with for Dwight and Daniel, like the way we used Angelo Johnson a year ago,” Floyd said.

Lewis is expected to be in the starting lineup against Arizona today.

Floyd also experimented by using Marcus Simmons at point guard for a few minutes against Arizona State.

“I have never played point since high school, but I’ll play anything to get in the game,” said Simmons, who has been slowed by a sprained ankle.

Washington update

Power forward Leonard Washington could play today, though Floyd would prefer to wait a few more days. Washington has been out nearly four weeks because of a high ankle sprain.

“Ideally, you would love to play him next week, but if we need him we may use him,” Floyd said.

Washington, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound freshman, could come in handy against the Wildcats’ physical front line.

Washington was averaging nine points and six rebounds before being injured in the opening seconds against Georgia Tech on Dec. 22.

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