Arizona State Saps USC’s Momentum

So much for that feel-good momentum USC picked up in its handling of No. 7 Arizona on Thursday.

Fewer than 48 hours after its supposed corner-turning victory, the Trojans were thumped by a rag-tag squad that had been winless in conference play.

Making the Trojans’ 100-85 blowout loss to Arizona State on Saturday in front of 6,254 at the Sports Arena all the more frustrating was that USC did not come out flat as feared.

Rather, it was the Trojans who were blowing out the Sun Devils early, holding 14-point leads on two occasions in the first half, the last at 35-21 with less than six minutes left.

“We jumped on them good, but we just couldn’t hold them,” said Trojan junior power forward Jeff McMillan, who had 11 points and seven rebounds. “It seems like we only play hard against the bigger teams -- we take some teams lightly. We’ve got to bring it against all the teams.”

USC, which fell to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference, panicked when Arizona State made a run at the end of the first half and outscored the Trojans, 14-6, to close the gap to three points, 48-45.

“In the locker room we all looked down even though we were winning. It looked like we were losing,” said USC’s Desmon Farmer, who followed his 40-point performance against Arizona with 26, though he was four of 11 on three-point shots and seven of 17 overall. “It carried over onto the court in the second half.”

Still, Farmer scored the most points in consecutive games for the Trojans since Harold Miner scored 76 against Arizona State and Oregon State in 1992.

Arizona State (7-7, 1-4) also made the necessary adjustment -- getting the ball to preseason All-American Ike Diogu.

The sophomore power forward, who was held scoreless for the first eight-plus minutes and the last 12-plus, still finished with a game-high 27 points.

His low-post presence opened up shots for the Sun Devils’ shooters as Arizona State shot 68.2% from the field in the second half, contributing mightily to the Sun Devils’ shooting 61.2% from the field for the game and 71.4% (10 of 14) on three-pointers. Both marks were USC opponent season highs.

“We tried a little bit of everything to keep USC off balance,” said Arizona State Coach Rob Evans.

Including getting a technical foul early.

“They got seven straight calls after that,” claimed USC Coach Henry Bibby, whose team lost to Arizona State at home for the first time since Bibby was the Trojans’ interim coach in 1996. “I might have to use that.”

USC also stopped making shots. The Trojans shot 31.4% in the second half, 13.3% (two of 15) on three-pointers.

Errick Craven said the Trojans’ troubles started when they relied too much on Farmer.

“He’s not going to score 40 points every night,” the junior guard said. “We’ve got to step up and play. No guards stepped up ... including myself.”

USC scored one basket in the first five minutes of the second half and Arizona State, which has scored 208 points in its last two games with the Trojans, took advantage.

“We were ready to play at the beginning,” Bibby said. “At the second half, we weren’t. I looked at one of my assistants and said, ‘Gosh, this doesn’t look good.’ ”

It ended up looking worse.

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Senior center Jonathan Oliver started his second consecutive game and had 10 points and a career-high five blocks, four in the first half.