USC Creates Another Star--for Arizona : Edgar Becomes a Real Big Man as Wildcats Get Past Trojans, 71-62

USC is unintentionally building reputations for some rather undistinguished players in the Pacific 10.

Arizona State’s Alex Austin, a freshman forward, and Arthur Thomas, a sophomore guard, had career highs of 24 and 26 points, respectively, as the Sun Devils beat the Trojans, 75-67, Thursday night at Tempe.

It was John Edgar’s turn to become prominent Saturday at McKale Center.

Arizona’s 6-6 center scored a career-high 25 points in leading the Wildcats to a 71-62 win over the Trojans before a raucous crowd of 12,365.

Edgar, a senior who played for Pasadena City College and Blair High School, is not a true center by any stretch of the imagination.

But he was active inside, scoring on short jump and hook shots and drawing fouls. It was his contribution during a 15-point blitz early in the second half that determined the outcome.

Edgar got 12 of his team’s 15 points during that run, and the teams basically traded baskets the rest of the way.

So, it was another loss for the slumping Trojans, who have lost six straight conference games to share the cellar with Oregon. Both teams have 3-9 records.

Arizona, which is 14-0 at home this season, shares the conference lead with Washington at 9-3.

Three of USC’s regulars, senior guard Larry Friend, freshman forward Tom Lewis and freshman guard Bo Kimble, didn’t start. Friend and Lewis were late for the 11 p.m. curfew Friday, while Kimble presumably was late for a team meeting.

But all of them played. Lewis led USC in scoring with 14 points, making 7 of 14 shots.

Friend said that he missed curfew by 20 minutes while getting a haircut from the team barber, guard Kevin Steward. Lewis wasn’t specific about his tardiness, just saying that he was late after spending the evening with friends in the city.

In contrast to Thursday night’s game against Arizona State, the Trojans played hard and with more teamwork.

But their lapses were costly, especially when they had a 33-28 lead 3 1/2 minutes into the second half, only to go scoreless for nearly five minutes while Arizona was surging with its 15-0 run.

“Every night out it seems that some guy gets a career high against us,” USC Coach Stan Morrison said. “They did a great job of getting the ball inside, and Edgar was sensational. We tried to get the ball inside, but we weren’t effective in doing it.”

Edgar, who is one of the smallest centers in the Pac-10, brought a 10.3 scoring average into the game. He padded that figure against the Trojans. He was 7 of 14 from the field and 11 of 14 from the free-throw line.

“Our post defense was the worst I’ve seen in my seven years as USC’s coach,” Morrison said, “and we weren’t playing against a 7-footer.”

The Trojans shot only five free throws, making four. The Wildcats were 23 of 34 from the line. Biased officiating? Not necessarily.

USC wasn’t penetrating, so it wasn’t drawing shooting fouls. Arizona, especially Edgar, set up shop in the paint.

USC committed 21 turnovers in losing to Arizona State. The Trojans were careless once again taking care of the ball Saturday, compiling 18 turnovers.

“A couple of our players are really struggling,” Morrison said. “They’re soft in making a pass and soft when they get the ball. Other teams are exploiting that. If they don’t take care of that, they’ll be paying less and less time.”

Morrison didn’t identify the players, though.

Kimble had seven turnovers against Arizona State and three against Arizona. Troy LaMar, a reserve forward-center, played only five minutes, but he turned the ball over four times.

USC committed five turnovers when Arizona was putting the game away early in the second half. Morrison said that he thought some of his younger players were intimidated by the crowd during that stretch, and he was also disappointed that USC didn’t attack Arizona’s half-court trap defense by getting inside.

USC, 9-13 overall, didn’t have the services of junior forward Derrick Dowell for 16 minutes of the first half. Dowell got his second foul at the outset of the game and and was replaced.

He started the second half, but he picked up his third and fourth fouls in the first three minutes. He didn’t foul out, though, until late in the game.

Dowell still managed to score 11 points, but grabbed only three rebounds while playing 19 minutes. Freshman center Hank Gathers led the Trojans in rebounding with nine.

Arizona shot only 39.1% in the first half, but the Wildcats were more accurate in the second half with 51.7% shooting. Guard Steve Kerr supported Edgar by scoring 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting.

Although Morrison was obviously disappointed, he said his team played together better than it has in three or four weeks.

Friend said the same thing.

“We’re playing on pride now,” Friend said. “We can be a spoiler in the race and let things carry over next year for the younger guys.”