ASU Chokes Late, Loses to USC

No. 5 seeded Arizona State and No. 12 seeded USC matched up in the first round of the PAC-12 Tournament on Wednesday and the Trojans came away with a 67-64 victory to move onto the next round.

USC used a 21-4 run in the final nine minutes of the game to come back from a 14-point deficit for the victory.

USC held a narrow 12-11 lead with 12:33 left in the first half, but the Sun Devils used a 27-16 run to close out the half and took a 38-28 lead into the locker room at the half.

Arizona State held a 60-46 lead with nine minutes remaining and seemed to be in sole possession of the ball game. USC used a 9-0 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to cut the lead to 60-55. USC cut the lead to 62-59 with 3:10 left in the game on a slicing-and-dicing layup by Julian Jacobs.

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USC scored the next six points to take a 65-62 lead with 1:07 left in the second half. McKissic responded with a layup to cut the lead to 65-64. ASU stood tall on defense and was given a shot to take the lead late as they had possession with 16.2 seconds left.

McKissic received an isolation play, but was denied at the rim by Nikola Jovanovic.

Elijah Stewart nailed both free throws to take a 67-64 lead with 3.4 seconds left. McKissic missed a fall-away three-point shot attempt at the buzzer and the Trojans were victorious.

Stewart led all scorers with 27 points as he was 8-for-14 from the field and 6-for-9 from distance. Jacobs added 12 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

The Trojans (12-19) struggled with turnovers all season long and their struggle continued in today’s contest. USC finished with 17 turnovers, while assisting on just nine of their 24 made field goals. USC did shoot the ball extremely well at 52.2 percent.

Arizona State (17-15) didn’t have their best game of the season as they had a team shooting line of 35.4/22.7/61.9.

Shaquielle McKissic had the best all around game for the Sun Devils with 16 points, nine rebounds, and five steals. He did shoot 5-for-18 however, including 1-for-7 from beyond the three-point line.

USC will take on the No. 4 seeded UCLA Bruins on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PT. The winner of the contest will face the victor of the No. 8 California vs. No. 1 Arizona game in the conference semi-finals.

Arizona State, who was looking at a NIT Tournament birth, may have played their last game of the season after choking away this game.