Trojan Victory Is Breath of Fresh, and Rare, Air

That heavy exhale emanating from the Sports Arena on Saturday night?

That was USC, breathing a long-awaited sigh of relief.

Maybe there’s still life left in the Trojans, who remain in last place in the Pacific 10 Conference but will be only 2 1/2 games out of fifth place with five games remaining in the regular season if Oregon State loses to Washington today as expected.

The Trojans’ inspired 82-71 defeat of Arizona State, which completed a season sweep of the Sun Devils, ended a five-game USC losing streak. The Trojans, who are trying to avoid becoming the first USC team to finish last in the Pac-10 since 1995, improved to 3-10 in conference play, 10-14 overall.

The Sun Devils (5-8, 16-9) were led by senior guard Steve Moore’s 19 points.

“It was a long drought; that first win opens a lot of doors and gives us momentum going up to the Bay Area” for games at Stanford and California this week, said USC senior power forward Jeff McMillan, who led all players with 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

McMillan’s defense, as well as that from center Rory O’Neil and forward Gregg Guenther, on All-America candidate Ike Diogu was just as important. Diogu finished with 12 points, 10.5 below his Pac-10-leading average, and made only three of 10 shots.

“It was the same approach as last time -- sag off him, get low, front him,” McMillan said, referring to the Trojans’ defense of Diogu in the schools’ first meeting, a 98-94 Trojan win on Jan. 15 when Diogu fouled out after taking only seven shots.

USC shot a season-high 55.6% from three-point territory, while the Sun Devils’ 36.1% shooting from the field was an opponents’ low for the Trojans in conference play.

Of course, the Trojans’ victory did not come without drama. USC, which has made an art of blowing games in the final minutes, gave the crowd of 4,517, which included 16 NBA scouts and Memphis Grizzly President Jerry West, some white-knuckle moments.

The Trojans led by 11 points, 64-53, with 9:23 to play in the game after O’Neil made a layup in transition, but they went cold immediately thereafter.

USC was held scoreless for nearly five minutes and would get only one field goal over the next 6 minutes 20 seconds. The Sun Devils crept back within 68-64 after Kevin Kruger made three free throws.

“You guys were probably saying, ‘Oh boy, here they go again,’ ” USC interim Coach Jim Saia told reporters.

Instead, Saia recounted to freshman swingman Nick Young Nevada Las Vegas’ miracle comeback at San Diego State earlier in the day, when the Runnin’ Rebels erased a 10-point deficit in the final 19 seconds to beat the Aztecs in overtime.

Adding weight to Saia’s cautionary tale: Kruger’s father, first-year UNLV Coach Lon Kruger, was in the stands.

Perhaps buoyed by the need to close things out, lest they suffer the same fate as the Aztecs, the Trojans did not let this one slip away, Gabe Pruitt’s three-point basket from the right wing extending USC’s lead to 71-64 with 2:55 to play.

Pruitt had 15 points and a career-high eight rebounds.

Young, who had a career-high 22 points in the first meeting with the Sun Devils, led the Trojans with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half.

“It feels good to see Jeff smiling again and O’Neil hitting some shots,” Young said. “We just stepped up today. I hope this is a big step for the future.”