TEMPE -- Even though there were so many reasons for Arizona State to look past Southern California on Sunday, the Sun Devils swear they did not.
They pointed to unusually poor shooting that led to some distracted defense for a closer-than-expected 64-59 victory over USC -- the worst team in the league, coming off a blowout in Tucson, two of its top scorers out -- on Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena.
Whatever. ASU used 3-pointers by Tra Holder and Jonathan Gilling in a 12-0 run late in the game to keep rolling toward a possible first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.
Holder's 3 from the left wing tied the game at 56 with two minutes remaining, and Gilling's 3-pointer gave the Sun Devils a 59-56 lead with 41.5 seconds left and only three seconds remaining on the shot clock. Holder made five free throws down the stretch to salt it away. It was Holder's only three, Gilling's second.
"That's what they always say, right, when you are a shooter? The only shot that counts is the next one," Gilling said. "I just came off and let it fly."
The Sun Devils (15-12, 7-7) won despite shooting 32.8 percent from the field, missing several close-in shots and making 6 of 26 shots from behind the 3-point arc. ASU had won only one other game in coach Herb Sendek's nine seasons with a lower shooting percentage, that coming when a James Harden-led team shot 28.6 percent in a 53-47 victory at Arizona on Jan. 21, 2009.
"I happen to know Jonathan Gilling really relishes making critical shots like he did down the home stretch," Sendek said.
ASU knew where to go. Gilling ranks third in the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting, making 45.6 percent, even though he had made only 4 of 17 attempts from distance in the previous five games. Gilling missed a 3 earlier in that possession, but Gerry Blakes got the rebound and ASU called a timeout before Gilling's tie-breaker.
"Obviously, he hasn't been shooting like he is capable, but when that shot went in to put us ahead by three, it reminded all of us why we have nicknamed him the 'Danish dagger,'" Sendek said. "And that takes a lot of courage when things aren't going your way in a close game to rise up and make that kind of shot. Similarly, Tra made a really big shot."
ASU has won seven of its last 10, reaching .500 for the first time in Pac-12 play, and has given itself a reasonable chance at a first-round league tournament bye, given to the top four teams. Stanford (8-6) is in fourth place, one game ahead in the loss column of UCLA (8-7), Oregon State (8-7) and ASU (7-7). The Sun Devils visit Utah and Colorado next week before finishing the regular season with a home series against the northern California schools.
USC (10-17, 2-13) led by 10 points with 9:49 remaining and eight with 7:37 left but did not score of its own volition after Julian Jacobs' shot in the lane gave the Trojans a 56-50 lead with 4:51 left. USC's only other basket came on a goaltending call with 1.3 seconds left that made it 62-59. The Trojans missed six field goals, one blocked by Eric Jacobsen, and committed a turnover in that run.
Sophomore Kahlil Dukes led USC with had 18 points, tying his season total while playing for injured Jordan McLaughlin and disciplined Katin Reinhardt, who was sent home with two others after the Arizona game for violating team rules, USC coach Andy Enfield said.
"We shot a pretty high percentage until the last few minutes of the game and I thought we missed a lot of easy shots down the stretch," Enfield said.
Blakes had 12 points, Bo Barnes had 11, and Holder and Shaquielle McKissic had 10. Jacobsen had 10 rebounds and Blakes had eight to give the Sun Devils a 39-33 rebounding advantage. ASU, which lost an overtime game to Oregon when it made just 7 of 15 free throw attempts, was 20 of 26 from the foul line. USC, which lives by the outside shot, was 3 of 5 from the line.
"Obviously, it was a night when we were ice cold from the field," Sendek said.
"As simple as it sounds, it is a function of the ball going in the basket. Although we could never prove it, we just had the sense as a coaching staff that some of our frustrations on offense -- not converting in transition, not finishing around the basket, missing open threes -- adversely affected us on defense. As hard as that it, we can't allow for that to happen."
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