Boogie Ellis scored 28 points and Southern California avoided a collapse to hold off visiting Arizona State, 68-65, Saturday in Los Angeles.
USC (22-9, 14-6 Pac-12) built a 14-point lead with 6:23 remaining in regulation, capitalizing on Arizona State’s shooting struggles. The Trojans held the Sun Devils to 19-of-65 on field-goal attempts, including 6-of-28 from 3-point range.
However, Arizona State (20-11, 11-9) went on a 19-6 run to pull within a point on Frankie Collins’ layup with 15 seconds to go. After a pair of Tre White free throws, USC’s Drew Peterson fouled Collins on a shot attempt in the corner.
Collins was ruled to have a foot on the 3-point line, giving him two foul shots with the Sun Devils down by three points and eight seconds remaining. Collins split his attempts.
A Joshua Morgan free throw extended the USC lead back to three points, and D.J. Horne got a good look at the would-be, game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer but it rimmed off.
Horne shot 4-of-11 beyond the 3-point arc and finished with a team-high 20 points. Collins added 12 points, and both Warren Washington and Devan Cambridge recorded double-doubles in the loss — Washington with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Cambridge with 12 points and 10 boards.
White was the only USC scorer to join Ellis in double-figures, finishing with 13 points. Peterson scored nine points on a paltry 3-of-10 shooting from the floor. The Trojans went just 21-of-51 from the field overall, including 5-of-18 beyond the arc.
Ellis accounted for all but one of USC’s made 3-pointers, going 4-of-11 from deep.
Saturday’s win gave the Trojans another boost to their NCAA Tournament resume before next week’s Pac-12 tournament. USC is the No. 3 seed for the event in Las Vegas. Arizona State slid to No. 6, relegating the Sun Devils to Wednesday’s first round and a matchup with Oregon State.
–Field Level Media
