USC ends 22-year drought

Harold Miner, Sports Illustrated national player of the year and USC’s all-time leading scorer, couldn’t do it in three tries.

Sam Clancy, Pacific 10 Conference player of the year, went 0 for 4.

Then there was Nick Young, Gabe Pruitt and Lodrick Stewart, who came into the McKale Center on Thursday night and broke through at the raucous arena where so many distinguished Trojans before them had failed, lifting No. 22 USC to a historic 80-75 victory over the No. 19 Wildcats.

The trio combined for 69 points to help the Trojans end a 21-game losing streak on Arizona’s home court, and they were at their best in the final minutes, when they quieted a sellout crowd of 14,623.

Stewart made a pull-up jumper, Young completed a three-point play and Pruitt had a key steal and made two free throws as USC scored eight of the final 10 points to secure its first victory at McKale since January 1985.

“I wasn’t born the last time they won here, so it felt good,” said Young, who had 26 points on nine-for-13 shooting. “This is something I’ve been dreaming about.”

The Trojans improved to 19-7 overall and 9-4 in the Pac-10 after defeating Arizona (17-8, 8-6) for the third consecutive time and completing their first regular-season sweep of the Wildcats since the 1982-83 season.

Stewart had 26 points off the bench, adding an immediate jolt after entering with 12:44 left in the first half. The senior guard did not start for the first time this season because he had been limited this week by a sore throat.

Pruitt scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and made a crucial steal after tipping a pass by Arizona senior guard Mustafa Shakur intended for senior forward Ivan Radenovic. After Pruitt made two free throws to give USC a 79-73 lead with 1:08 to go, Shakur made a short leaning jumper to pull the Wildcats to within four points, and they regained possession after Trojans freshman guard Daniel Hackett threw a pass out of bounds.

But Shakur and freshman forward Chase Budinger missed long jumpers and Young snagged the rebound and was fouled with 5.8 seconds remaining. After making one of two free throws to set the final margin, Young got a free ride courtesy of teammate Abdoulaye N’diaye, who embraced him in a bear hug and lifted him off the court.

The Trojans have now defeated six ranked teams, the most since the 2001-02 season, which was also the last time they qualified for the NCAA tournament.

“A win against Arizona, which I consider the measuring stick in this league ... gives our guys confidence as we approach the NCAA tournament, if we can get there,” USC Coach Tim Floyd said.

And what about breaking the McKale curse?

“I never thought about the streak,” Floyd said. “I thought it was ridiculous ya’ll kept bringing it up.”

Budinger had 19 points for Arizona, which shot 50% and held leads as large as seven points midway through the second half.

“We had them down and they came back and hit shots in our face,” Budinger said of the Trojans, who made 50.8% of their shots.

The Wildcats took their final lead with 3:24 left on two free throws by Budinger that made it 73-72. Then came a pull-up jumper by Stewart and a three-point play by Young, who was fouled while making a fadeaway jumper, that started the Trojans’ closing run.

“It’s a good win. It put a smile on my face,” said Stewart, inspired by the presence of his father, Andrew, who had traveled from Seattle.

“It’s a great senior present and late Valentine’s Day present.”

Sophomore forward Marcus Williams, Arizona’s leading scorer with a 17-point average, had only 10 points and committed seven of Arizona’s 16 turnovers before fouling out with 2:26 remaining.

ben.bolch@latimes.com