USC is 13-3, but for the Trojans to earn national respect and perhaps even convince its own fans, it needs a victory over No. 7-ranked Arizona today at the Galen Center.
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In front of a season-high 6,854 at the Galen Center – a crowd that included university President Max Nikias, Athletic Director Pat Haden, and Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young – the Trojans showed that for this year at least, they might be better off as a basketball school, winning a thriller over the No. 7 Wildcats, 103-101.
“I was impressed by our competitiveness and resiliency”. “It was our biggest win”.
“Every possession matters, every play matters”, he said. A two-handed dunk on a fastbreak by Chimezie Metu – assisted by Jacobs – halted the Sun Devils surge and started a 10-2 USC run in the final minute to secure the win. He made both foul shots.
“He hit some huge buckets down the stretch”, Enfield said, “but he also played tremendous defense”.
The Wildcats had the final possession with 23 seconds remaining, but their fate was sealed on a missed three-pointer by Kadeem Allen at the buzzer.
USC looks to be ranked for the first time since November 17, 2008.
USC capitalized on a steal to start the period, but Arizona capitalized on the Trojans’ cold shooting to take another three-point lead. Arizona has three players scoring in double figures, led by redshirt senior Ryan Anderson who is averaging a double-double of 15.1 points and 10.6 points. They were in the double bonus the final4:56 of the game and went 4 for 6 from the free throw line in that time.USC outrebounded ASU 42-34, becoming only the fifth team to outrebound the Sun Devils in a game this season.
The takeaway: USC found a new way to write the same narrative for the third game in a row, taking a commanding lead and letting it whither away in the end. “We don’t know how many games we can win or lose”.
USC makes 7.0 steals per game. Arizona was 11 of 16.
Jordan McLaughlin contributed 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists in 50 minutes, and followed up Stewart’s conditioning declaration by saying that he was “ready to go again”.
Alonzo Trier scored 25 to lead Arizona, including 19 points coming after halftime.
No. 6 BAYLOR 72, TCU 55: In Waco, Texas, freshman Beatrice Monpremier scored 18 points to lead the Bears (16-1, 3-1 Big 12).
USC post Nikola Jovanovic put the Trojans up with a spinning jumper in the lane, but Arizona tied it when Allen got the bounce on a driving 10-footer. Stewart, who had been shooting worse than all of USC’s leading contributors this season did manage to stay hot throughout, hitting 9 of 13 and finishing with 27 points, including the winning free throws. Katin Reinhardt is averaging 12.9 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game, while Julian Jacobs is averaging 12.5 points per game and 5.5 assists per game. Calvin Hermanson answered with a 3 to pull Saint Mary’s to 65-64, and then Davis made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining.
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York wasn’t able to take or engineer a final shot at the end of the fourth overtime, but he drove to the basket for a layup that tied the game at 95 before it went into a fourth overtime, and made plenty of other contributions.
