Feb. 4, 2006
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Freshman Jeff Pendergraph had 15 points and seven rebounds, Kevin Kruger scored five of his 14 in the 43 1/2 seconds on free throws, and last-place Arizona State surprised Southern California 68-65 Saturday.
ASU snapped a four-game losing streak and won just its second Pac-10 game of the season. The Sun Devils also ended a four-game losing streak to USC and beat the Trojans in Los Angeles for just the second time in 10 games.
Serge Angounou had 11 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Sylvester Seay also scored 11 points, and Bryson Krueger added 10 for the Sun Devils (8-12, 2-9), who shot 50 percent and outrebounded USC 37-21.
Gabe Pruitt led USC (15-7, 6-5) with 22 points and five rebounds. Nick Young added 12 for the Trojans, who shot 12-of-29 from 3-point range and 11-of 24 from inside the arc.
ASU went ahead for good by outscoring USC 21-4 in the last 7 1/2 minutes of the first half for a 40-29 lead. Kruger scored nine points during the spurt, making three 3-pointers without a miss.
The Trojans scored the first seven points of the second half to move within four points. The Sun Devils extended their lead to 10 before USC went on a 11-4 run to make it 52-49. But that was as close as the Trojans would get.
Angounou scored the game's next five points, and Krueger added a 3-pointer with 4:37 remaining to make it 60-51. USC's Abdoulaye Ndiaye dunked with 4:11 to play, but neither team scored again Krueger made two free throws with 56.7 seconds left, giving ASU a 62-53 lead.
The Trojans made four 3-pointers in the last 44 seconds, but it wasn't enough.
Pruitt made four 3-pointers and Young added two in the first 10 minutes, accounting for all but two of USC's points as the Trojans took a 20-12 lead.
ASU adjusted its defense at that stage, and Pruitt didn't score again until making another 3-pointer three minutes into the second half. Young sat out the last 10:46 of the first half after picking up his third foul.
The Sun Devils' 40 points at halftime was their most at that stage since they scored 48 in a season-opening 82-62 victory over Southern Utah.
The Trojans beat the Sun Devils 66-65 in Arizona last month on Lodrick Stewart's 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left. Stewart, averaging 12.6 points, had only seven in this game.