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Free throws doom bid for sweep

Arizona State shoots 36 second-half free throws in an 80-66 win over USC.

Rhett Bollinger

Media Credit: Eric Wolfe | Daily Trojan Big day | USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo had a career-high 37 points, including seven 3-pointers, in the Trojans' 80-66 loss at Arizona State. Mayo was the only Trojan to have double-digit points.

TEMPE, Ariz. - USC's one-man show wasn't enough.

Freshman guard O.J. Mayo scored a career-high 37 points, including seven 3-pointers, but no other Trojan scored in double-figures.

The Trojans simply couldn't overcome Arizona State shooting 34 of 39 from the free throw line in the USC men's basketball team's loss, 80-66, at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday.

The Sun Devils (18-10, 8-8 Pac-10) made 31 of 36 free throws in the second half as four players fouled out of the game for USC (18-10, 9-7).

"It was the most free throws one of my teams has ever given up in a half," USC coach Tim Floyd said. "The thing that's amazing about it is that we never told our guys to foul. We're going to have to go back and study the film and pay attention to what we did."

At one point in the second half, Arizona State scored 13 points in a row from free throws as part of a 16-0 run that put the Sun Devils up 59-38 with 8:45 remaining in the game.

The Trojans battled back, however, after Mayo scored 15 of the Trojans' next 24 points to get USC within nine points of Arizona State.

But the Trojans turned the ball over on their next possession after freshman guard Marcus Simmons traveled. The Sun Devils then went on an 11-2 run with all of their points coming from free throws.

"We kinda had them on the ropes when we cut it to nine," Mayo said. "But turnovers got us back in the hole."

Daniel Hackett, Davon Jefferson, Taj Gibson and Keith Wilkinson fouled out for USC. The Trojans were also called for two technical fouls - one on USC's bench and one on Jefferson - that lead to four successful free throws.

USC only attempted 11 free throws in the game and was outscored from the line by 24 points.

"The home court always plays a role because the referees are going to go with the home team always," said sophomore guard Gibson, who finished with just two points. "If you look at it, they fouled us out. The foul calls were ridiculous."

Gibson also said the foul calls, especially in the second half, changed the way USC played defense because the team was afraid of getting called for fouls.

"It affected the game a lot because every time you come down you're scared [of fouling] because it's a physical game," Gibson said. "Nothing to take away from Arizona State, they played a great game, but at the end of the game if you look at the foul calls you got to question [them]."

Freshman guard James Harden and junior forward Jeff Pendergraph led the Sun Devils, scoring 24 and 21 points, respectively. Harden missed just two total shots as he went 7 of 8 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free throw line.

"They took good shots today," Floyd said about the Sun Devils. "They got the ball in Pendergraph's hands, who I think had one of his better games and I thought Harden was effective as well."

But no one was as effective as Mayo, who scored the second most points in a Pac-10 game this season. He shot 12 of 21 from the field and made seven of his first eight 3-point attempts.

He also fell just two points shy of breaking the record for most points by a freshman in a Pac-10 game. In 1978, USC's Cliff Robinson scored 39 against California.

Mayo, though, said his performance didn't mean much because the Trojans lost the game.

"I don't think that's important," Mayo said. "As a team we lost. That's our main focus right now."

Even with the loss, Floyd said the team was happy to earn a split in their tough road series in the desert. The Trojans remained in fourth place in the Pac-10, heading into an important home series with Cal and Stanford next weekend.

"We're glad that we got at least one win but we certainly wanted two," Floyd said. "But the win at Arizona was a good win and this one would've been a good one too, but we didn't get it done."

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