Feb. 15, 2001
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - Brian Scalabrine scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half Thursday night to lead USC to an 80-68 win over Arizona State in a game in which Trojans coach Henry Bibby was ejected, then eventually allowed to return to the bench.
Scalabrine went 13-of-15 from the line, and USC (17-6, 7-4 Pac-10) also got 23 points and nine rebounds from David Bluthenthal.
Alton Mason led Arizona State (11-12, 3-9) with 16 points, and Chad Prewitt added 14. Awvee Storey had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Sun Devils, who shot just 34 percent from the floor to the Trojans' 49 percent.
After a technical foul was called on USC assistant David Miller 58 seconds into the second half with the Trojans up 39-34, referee Richie Ballesteros waved Bibby off the court.
Ballesteros already had called a technical on the Trojans' head coach for yelling at him, with 1:13 left in the first half.
After the technical was called on Miller and Bibby was sent off, the game resumed. But several minutes later, Ballesteros apparently reconsidered.
Rules call for a coach to be ejected if there are two technicals against him, or for the head coach to be ejected if there are three technicals against his bench.
Ballesteros summoned Bibby back to the court and the coach took his seat on the bench again with 14:44 left to play and Arizona State up 45-44. The Trojans then went on a 14-4 run to take control.
The Sun Devils, who came back from a 15-point deficit in the first half, stayed close until the Trojans finally spurted away.
After falling behind 26-11 with 11:05 left in the first half, the Sun Devils stormed back with a 20-6 run to even it at 31 with 1:31 remaining.
Prewitt had seven points during that comeback, including a 3-pointer and a jumper that pulled Arizona State within 28-25 with 5:30 left before halftime.
Three free throws by Tyler Murphy and two by Brandon Granville in the final 1:04 helped the Trojans cling to a 36-34 halftime lead.