Arizona State’s Thomas, at 5-9, Is Just Too Much for USC, 75-67

USC has had problems defending against big men in the Pacific 10. But Arizona State’s Arthur Thomas, one of the smallest players in the conference, gave the Trojans an even bigger headache Thursday night.

Thomas, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Tulsa, flitted through, around and over the USC defense in leading Arizona State to a 75-67 victory at the Activity Center.

He played only 23 minutes but that was ample time to frustrate the Trojans as he scored 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting.

“It’s disconcerting when a 5-9 kid kicks your rear end as thoroughly as he did,” USC Coach Stan Morrison said.

That kick sent USC into the cellar of the Pac-10, where it reposes with Oregon at 3-8. The Trojans dropped to 9-12 overall.

It’s one thing for a small guard to burn a team on layups, but Thomas was also leaping over taller Trojans to score on accurate jump shots.

“Arizona State just outhustled us and outran us,” USC center Hank Gathers said. “As for Thomas, he’s the quickest little dude I’ve ever seen. He was about to dunk one on me, but I couldn’t let a 5-9 guy dunk on me. He’s a tough kid.”

Gathers is 6-7, but Thomas apparently isn’t fazed by taller, or stronger, players.

“I wasn’t quick enough to guard him,” said Bo Kimble, USC’S 6-4 guard. “Larry Friend (who is 5-11) is quick enough, but he just jumped over Larry.”

Morrison said he used several guarding combinations in an effort to neutralize Thomas, but to no avail.

ASU freshman forward Alex Austin was also a factor as he scored 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting. By winning, the Sun Devils improved their conference record to 5-7. They’re 11-11 overall. More significantly, ASU has won 10 of 11 games this season on its home court.

It won’t get any easier for the Trojans, who move over to Tucson Saturday afternoon for a game with Arizona. The Wildcats are 13-0 at home this season.

Thomas was a factor, to be sure, but the Trojans played one of their worst games of the season. They committed 21 turnovers, 13 in the first half, and allowed the Sun Devils to penetrate time and again, although they weren’t at a size disadvantage.

“Our defense was soft, and we had virtually no communication,” Morrison said. “They had great penetration and just wanted to win more than we did. We came out flat and without any emotion.”

That was obvious in the the first 12 minutes as the Sun Devils forged into a 22-8 lead. The Trojans regrouped to cut the deficit to 32-29 at halftime and then narrowed it to 32-31 early in the second half.

That’s when ASU, led by Thomas and Austin, went into another gear and took off. The Sun Devils built their lead to 11 points midway through the second half, and when the Trojans closed within five points, ASU spurted again and was breezing at the end.

Morrison studied the box score and just shook his head.

“When Larry Friend doesn’t get an assist, that tells you something,” Morrison said, “and when Derrick Dowell gets only two rebounds, that tells you something more.”

Friend and Dowell are among the Pac-10 leaders in their respective departments.

Morrison said he was proud of his team last week, even though USC lost to Washington State in overtime, 77-75, and Washington, 70-64, at the Sports Arena. He said at the time that he couldn’t fault his team’s effort in those games. He found fault Thursday night.

“This game really bothers me because we weren’t out-sized,” Morrison said. “We didn’t give the same effort as we did against the Washington schools. We didn’t execute, didn’t take care of the ball, and our shot selection was suspect.”

Morrison struggled to find something positive to say about his team. He mentioned that Gathers pulled down 8 rebounds and that Kevin Steward came off the bench to score 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. That’s about all.

Forward Tom Lewis was only 1 for 6 from the field in the first half, but finished 6 for 15 and had 14 points. Gathers contributed 13 points, and Dowell had 12.

“He just killed us,” said Lewis, referring to Thomas. “We couldn’t stop him. We just came out flat and couldn’t get in the groove.”

Thomas has been bothered by back spasms and didn’t play last week in the Bay Area against Stanford and California.

He said that he’s 5-10 and drew himself up to prove it. But he’s 5-9, all right.

“I guess it was my best game,” said Thomas, who is averaging 13.7 points a game this season.

“When we didn’t have him last week it was like running on one leg,” ASU Coach Steve Patterson said. “What he did tonight was no fluke. He can do that in every game. We’re not very tall, but we have him post up against bigger players.”

After playing against Thomas, the Trojans would rather look up than look down.