Locking down is key for Trojans

USC’s defense handcuffs opponents and chucks the key into the ocean.

Shooters can’t find daylight.

Post players can’t budge without finding a double-team waiting.

Think solitary confinement, minus the cell.

Now, if only they had a formidable offense, the Trojans wouldn’t post football-like scores, such as Saturday’s 47-37 thriller against Arizona State in front of 5,917 at the Galen Center.

“It just came down to who could stop who,” said forward Leonard Washington.

But high scores or low, the Trojans (10-4 overall, 2-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference) are winning -- eight in a row and counting.

“If you had told me early in the season we’d have won eight straight, I would have thought you lost your mind,” said USC Coach Kevin O’Neill.

The point totals were season lows for both teams, but this was never expected to be an Old West shootout.

Coming in, Arizona State and USC were tied for third in the nation in scoring defense (55.8 points allowed per game) and when the score stood 23-16 at halftime, it seemed 50 points by either squad would take a miracle.

“Obviously, that was not two scoring juggernauts,” O’Neill said. “But we’ll take any win, any way we can get it.”

That means defense. During the streak, USC has held all eight teams to 56 points or fewer.

Arizona State (10-5, 0-2) seemed flustered all game. The Sun Devils shot 11 for 45 from the field (a season-low 24%) and were five for 23 from three-point range.

USC wasn’t that handsome either, going 15 for 42 from the field (36%).

“This is great defense. Neither team can get any open shots,” said one NBA scout who walked out with three minutes left.

Said Arizona State Coach Herb Sendek: “They have great size, length and athleticism. They play hard and set up well.”

Mike Gerrity and Marcus Johnson each had a game-high 12 points. Arizona State was led by Jamelle McMillan’s 10 points.

One key difference: USC had 17 points off turnovers, while ASU had three.

“We’re digging in,” Gerrity said. “We’re hanging our hat on that. We know it’s going to give us a chance in every game.”

It appeared early on that both teams would be better suited to playing in the Coliseum, throwing on some football pads and switching their sneakers for cleats. Bodies banged and flew, and possessions often came to the end of the shot clock. USC fared better, thanks to Gerrity, who hit two last-second shots during an 11-1 run that put the Trojans up, 23-13, just before halftime.

In the second half, the shot clock wore on and the Trojans ground it out.

“The tougher team will win,” Washington said.

That the scores were low was probably because the teams are similar. USC is rebuilt after losing three players to the pros, and ASU has dealt with the loss of Jeff Pendergraph and 2009 Pac-10 player of the year James Harden.

Despite that, both teams seem to be overachieving, thanks largely to disciplined defense and shifty point guards (Glasser and Gerrity).

“We knew we were better than people told us we would be. We never believed what the newspapers said,” said USC forward Nikola Vucevic. “We knew we were better than that.”

A chance to prove they can win on the road comes next. USC plays Stanford on Wednesday in Palo Alto and is in Berkeley on Saturday to face California, a Pac-10 favorite.

It will be the Trojans’ second “true” road trip this season. In the first, they lost by a combined 45 points at Texas and Georgia Tech.

baxter.holmes@latimes.com