USC Rallies to Defeat Arizona State

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.”