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Finally, Trojans Weather a Run

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Times Staff Writer

Coach Henry Bibby, USC fans and the Trojans themselves all had the same thought entering Saturday night’s game at Arizona State: How would they respond when their opponent made its inevitable run?

After all, USC had done little more than fade and eventually succumb to the second-half pressure in dropping six of seven games.

But against the Sun Devils, the Trojans responded -- well.

“I have no idea,” Bibby said after USC’s 93-84 overtime win when asked why his team was finally able to react to an opponent’s run. “When they want to do it, they do it.”

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They did it several times in Tempe.

After Arizona State opened up with a 7-2 lead, USC answered with a 9-2 run.

When the Sun Devils outscored USC, 13-3, the Trojans came back with a 13-2 scoring burst. And after the Sun Devils grabbed a 28-27 lead with a 6-0 spurt, USC closed the half with a 16-4 run to take a 43-32 lead into halftime.

But even after that, USC allowed a 12-point lead in the second half to evaporate into a two-point deficit down the stretch. Such a collapse usually spells doom for USC.

No matter, junior forward Nick Curtis’ put-back basket with 21.5 seconds remaining, followed by Stevie Moore’s badly missed three-pointer at the buzzer, enabled USC to go into overtime, where it never had to sustain a run, because the Trojans never trailed.

“We went into overtime and we knew we were going to win,” junior forward Jeff McMillan said. “Everybody felt it.”

Meaning Bibby, the USC fans and the Trojans themselves.

“The second half is usually not our strength,” junior guard Errick Craven said. “But this was a must-win for us.”

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USC’s slump-busting victory was barely 10 minutes old when Bibby began campaigning for fans to come to the Sports Arena for Thursday’s game against unbeaten and No. 2-ranked Stanford.

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“We’re looking for that crowd to be our sixth man,” Bibby said. “I think the guys would respond to that.”

Said Craven: “We have to just try to handle them. They’re beatable.”

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Senior guard Desmon Farmer, whose 25 points against Arizona State gave him 1,506 for his career, passed Derrick Dowell (1,483) and John Rudometkin (1,484) for fifth place on the USC scoring list. Wayne Carlander is fourth with 1,524 points and Sam Clancy is third with 1,657.... Craven has 999 career points for 29th place.

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