Trojans Rally Too Late, Sun Devils Win

USC showed traces of an inside game, that someone other than junior Adam Spanich can make big baskets and the confidence to come back against a good team.

The Trojans simply didn’t do it in time.

Arizona State held on despite a late rally by the Trojans and defeated USC, 84-81, Saturday in a Pacific 10 Conference opener at the University Activity Center before 6,824.

Senior guard Gary Johnson made a three-point basket with 39.9 seconds remaining to get USC within 78-76. Seconds later, Johnson appeared on his way to tying the game after stealing the ball but was called for charging.

“That was painful,” Johnson said. “It hurts to lose like that.”

The Trojans, who had trailed by 12 points with 11 minutes to play, took another swing at the Sun Devils when seldom-used reserve Behzad Souferian made a three-point shot with six seconds left, his first basket of the season, to again push the Trojans to within one.

But senior guard Ahlon Lewis made two free throws with three seconds left and Johnson missed a desperation 35-footer to end the game.

The Trojans (4-7) played better in the second half than they have all season.

Senior forward Anthony White, in only his second game since coming back from a broken bone in his left foot, scored 12 points and had nine rebounds and gave the Trojans something they had been lacking all season--presence under the basket.

The Trojan freshmen showed some signs of growing up.

Kevin Augustine scored 11 points and had three assists, mostly by penetrating and taking the ball directly at Arizona State’s big men. Jeff Trepagnier, who looked skittish in his early games, was at times calling for the ball and finished with nine points in 18 minutes.

“As USC gets more experience, teams better be ready against USC,” interim Arizona State Coach Don Newman said after the Sun Devils ended an 11-game Pac-10 losing streak. “They are an athletic team that has a lot of solid parts. Once these guys start learning [Coach Henry] Bibby’s system, they are going to be very tough.”

Arizona State was led by senior guard Jeremy Veal, who scored a game-high 24 points, junior forward Bobby Lazor, who grabbed 16 rebounds and scored 13 points, and forward Mike Batiste, who had 20 points.

The Sun Devils (11-3) outscored USC in the first half and much of the second by making their three-point baskets. Sophomore guard Eddie House made five of his eight three-point shots and, as a team, Arizona State shot 50% from behind the arc (eight of 16).

Many of those three-point shots were without a USC player anywhere near.

“We’re still not getting back in time on defense,” Bibby said. “That’s been our problem, not getting back on transition defense. And we’re not making our free throws.”

The 6-foot-7 Spanich shot poorly--only two of seven from the behind three-point line--but other Trojans were able to make up some of the difference.

Augustine, a 6-foot backup point guard, showed that he might be a scorer as well as someone to lead the team.

“I know my role is to find the open shooters, but [scoring] is something that I think I could do,” Augustine said. “They left me open a lot and Spanich and [Elias] Ayuso struggled a little bit so I took some shots.”

For Arizona State, winning its first conference game was particularly sweet for the same reason that its fast start and 10-0 home record is: Nobody predicted the Sun Devils would do this well.

They finished with a 10-20 record last season, last in the Pac-10, and two former players have been indicted for shaving points during the 1993-94 season.

“I’m proud of this team,” Newman said. “All the adversity that we’ve been through in the past couple of months and these guys are playing great basketball.”