USC Rallies to Defeat Arizona State

TEMPE, Ariz. â€”  Brad Winslow scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, including two pivotal free throws with 35 seconds remaining, as USC rallied to beat Arizona State, 66-62, Saturday in a Pacific 10 Conference basketball game.

The Trojans, down 40-29 at halftime and 55-43 with 13:30 remaining, closed the gap to 58-57 on Rod Keller’s jumper with 7:39 left.

Consecutive layins by Bobby Thompson gave Arizona State a 62-59 lead with 2:25 left.

But Derrick Dowell, who had 8 of his 14 points in the second half for USC, had a layup with 1:40 to go, and Winslow then sank his decisive free throws for a 63-62 Trojan lead.

Rich Grande sank three free throws in the final 21 seconds as USC improved its record to 6-8 overall and 1-5 in the Pac-10.

Arizona State, now 4-8 overall and 0-4 in the conference, got 16 points from Arthur Thomas and 12 from Steve Beck. It was the Sun Devils’ fifth loss in their last six games.

“We lost our intensity,� said Arizona State Coach Steve Patterson. “We had an excellent first half and then we got tentative and let USC back in the game, and that’s what cost us.�

Still, the Trojans missed the front end of three one-and-one situations from the foul line and had two other baskets waived off for violations before taking the lead for good.

But the Sun Devils turned the ball over twice--with 24 seconds remaining and with 16 seconds left--to ensure their fate.

“Our defense ran and forced them,� said USC Coach George Raveling. “We got good shots against their press and we were aggressive offensively. And defensively, we used a box-and-one on Beck and took him out of the game in the second half. He’s their big scorer and we held him to four after the half.�