USC powers past Arizona State, handing Sun Devils second straight Pac-12 loss

Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said he was worried about how his team would come back after the draining loss to UCLA on Thursday. It turns out he had reason to be concerned.

The Sun Devils lacked their normal energy and weren't sharp on the defensive end of the floor where they traditionally excel and suffered another Pac-12 loss, this one by visiting USC 77-69 on Saturday night in front of 10,505 spectators at Desert Financial Arena.

The Sun Devils (15-5, 6-3) started the week in sole possession of second place, one game behind UCLA but they are now in a more precarious position after getting swept by the Los Angeles schools. They are two games behind the Bruins and tied with three other schools - Arizona, USC and Utah.

It also marked ASU's sixth straight loss to the Trojans, who have always been a particularly difficult matchup because of their size.

It was USC (14-6, 6-3) leading much of the way. ASU's only lead in the contest came at 4-2. It trailed at the half 43-33. The Trojans scored the first seven points of the second half, going up 50-33 on a jumper by Drew Peterson.

It led by as many as 24 at 77-53 with 4:21 to go. ASU then went on a 16-0 run to end the game, making the contest look closer than it was. Too little, too late.

USC shot 49.1% (28-for-57) for the game but was 53.8% (15-for-26) in the second half. It also won the rebounding battle 39-33.

ASU shot 38.5% (25-for-65) and was only 22.7% (5-for-22) from long distance.

Each team had 14 assists. USC had 18 turnovers while ASU had 11.

Standout performers

The game's top performers were not the ones in gold. USC was led by Peterson who tallied 19 points on a 7-for-11 showing from the field. He also had eight rebounds and four assists. Boogie Ellis added 18, shooting 7-for-16 from the field to go with his six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Two other Trojans also finished in double figures with Tre White and Vincent Iwuchukwu each hitting for 12.

Forward Warren Washington led ASU with a season-high 21 points. He also collected a team-high eight rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists. It tied a career-high he had in a game last year at Nevada against Wyoming in the 2020-2021 season.

Cambridge added 17 but was only 6-for-16 from the field, and 3-for-11 from deep. He also had four steals and three assists.

Women's basketball: ASU women's basketball hopeful vs. UA amid last week's forfeits

Turning point

ASU got within 12 points in the second half but it could not maintain any momentum until it was too late. The Sun Devils trailed 54-42 with 13:27 left after Desmond Cambridge hit a jumper but the Trojans responded on their end, this time with a 3-pointer by Peterson that made it 57-42.

They later got within 14 at 59-45 on a 3-pointer by Cambridge and they had possession after a rare USC miss. But a putback dunk by Iwuchukwu made it a 16-point lead and the deficit ballooned from there until the Sun Devil made the late run.

They said it

"It was atrocious defense out there and that's our responsibility as a staff. We've had an identity for most of the season of getting stops. We've given up back-to-back games of virtually 50% shooting from the field when we've been holding teams in the mid 30's. We've got to get back to the drawing board at that end of the floor and figure out how to get guys on the floor who are going to play with the necessary energy and value the defensive end of the floor because we're not going to outscore people in shootout. That's just not how we're built."

- ASU coach Bobby Hurley.

"That was flat-out embarrassing. We embarrassed our fans. We embarrassed ourselves. We embarrassed the community. Not much else I can say."

- ASU forward Warren Washington

Read more: No. 11 UA men's basketball defeats No. 5 UCLA

Up Next

The Sun Devils go back on the road for games against the Washington schools. They will play at Washington (12-9, 4-6) at 9 p.m. on Thursday and then at Washington State (9-11, 4-5) for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday. Both of those will air on ESPNU. The Sun Devils beat both of those teams when they visited Tempe earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU men's basketball falls against USC, 2nd straight Pac-12 loss