LOS ANGELES – Arizona State (4-9) arrived in Los Angeles shorthanded as leading scorer Keala King (13.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and key contributors Kyle Cain (8.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Chris Colvin (5.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg) did not make the trip after being suspended.
Despite the Sun Devils having such a shortened bench and only using two reserves, Arizona State still had enough to beat the Trojans, 62-53, on Thursday evening for ASU's first win the in the Galen Center.
"We're disappointed of course. I tell our guys we have to play with a higher energy from the get go, especially defensively," said head coach Kevin O'Neill. "When we let them shoot 7-of-13, [from beyond the arc] it's really going to be hard,"
USC trailed the entire first half and faced a 10-point deficit, 34-24, at the break. The Trojans never led, but at one point cut the deficit to one at 9:12 after a layup by Dewayne Dedmon. ASU had a whopping 17 turnovers - compared to USC's six - but the Trojans could not take advantage of ASU's mistakes. The Sun Devils had their best shooting night of the season (61.6 percent) and Carrick Felix led both teams with 22 points.
"We never really got on track defensively tonight," O'Neill said. "We never really got them out of their rhythm."
The Trojans had three players hit double figures led by Aaron Fuller with 14 points, Maurice Jones had 13 and Byron Wesley 10.
"We can't seem to generate points," said O'Neill. "We go as Mo goes and it did not go well for Mo tonight."
Jones was 4-of-11 from the field and added four assists.
This loss extends the Trojans losing streak to four and USC is just 1-7 after a 4-4 start.
"We could definitely come out with an intensity on Sunday's game – with a must win attitude," said Dedmon, who finished with 8 points and seven rebounds.
They most do something – anything – because USC had every reason to win Thursday and didn't.
