Loss is worst-case scenario for USC
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TEMPE, ARIZ. — In a season in which they have taken a giant step toward the North Carolinas of the college basketball world, the USC Trojans on Sunday evening more closely resembled North Carolina A&T.;
The No. 22 Trojans’ offense sputtered and their vaunted defense succumbed to a suddenly explosive Arizona State attack during the second half of a 68-58 loss at Wells Fargo Arena that moved the Sun Devils into the win column in Pacific 10 Conference play.
Arizona State students stormed the court after their Sun Devils, averaging a Pac-10-low 54.6 points in conference games, erupted for 47 points in the final 17 minutes 43 seconds of their first victory since defeating North Carolina A&T; on Dec. 21.
USC, 19-8 overall and 9-5 in the Pac-10, dropped into a tie for third place in the conference with Stanford, which visits the Galen Center on Thursday.
“This could have been one of those games that put us in the [NCAA] tournament,” said Trojans junior swingman Nick Young, who called the defeat “very, very, very disappointing.”
Even with a game against nationally ranked Arizona looming, USC Coach Tim Floyd had warned his team all week about Arizona State, a team that before Sunday had lost a school-record 15 consecutive games and was 0-14 in conference play. The Trojans knocked off the Wildcats on their home court for the first time since 1985 but couldn’t follow up with a victory against the Sun Devils on a floor where they hadn’t lost since 2003.
“The whole time coming into this whole trip we said this was the game we were worried about,” said USC junior guard Gabe Pruitt, who finished with a team-high 22 points. “They were due for a win, we just didn’t want it to be against us.”
In a sign of things to come, USC scored on only one of its first 10 possessions but still led by five at halftime after shooting 38.5% from the field to Arizona State’s 31%.
But after taking a 32-23 lead on a basket underneath the rim by Young with 16:56 left, the Trojans began to unravel.
“When we got up, we started rushing shots a little more than usual,” said Young, who had 11 points. “One shot, one rebound -- they’d get the rebound and push it up. We didn’t just settle down.”
Arizona State surged ahead, 33-32, after rattling off a 10-0 run that featured a dunk by forward Jeff Pendergraph, a driving layup by guard Antwi Atuahene and consecutive three-point baskets by guards Christian Polk and Derek Glasser.
“Defensively, we weren’t playing like we were in the first half,” Pruitt said. “Our defense feeds our offense. We get stops and push the ball and get breaks, but we kind of got away from that and gave them a lot of easy looks at the end and kind of got away from our game plan.”
The teams traded baskets until consecutive three-pointers by Allen Morill and Glasser gave the Sun Devils a 47-39 lead with 6:15 to go. USC pulled to within 49-46 on a spin move by freshman guard Dwight Lewis with 4:50 left but could get no closer as the Sun Devils made 12 of 14 free throws in the last 1:54.
Pendergraph finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Sun Devils (7-19, 1-14), who shot 57.1% in the second half to USC’s 34.4%. Glasser, a freshman who reneged on a commitment to USC to sign with Arizona State, also had 14 points.
“We’ve had a group of winners here for a while, and tonight we finally showed it on the scoreboard,” Arizona State Coach Herb Sendek said.
With four regular-season games and the Pac-10 tournament remaining, the Trojans are still one victory short of the 20-win plateau that every team covets before facing the NCAA tournament selection committee.
“Coach said right now we’re an NIT team,” Pruitt said.
“I don’t feel that way, but obviously the committee might think that way, especially with this loss,” he added. “But we feel we can still prove that we belong and get wins down the stretch.”
