LAS VEGAS — Down by nine with three minutes left, USC guard Reese Dixon-Waters began to cut to the basket, expecting the Trojans to initiate their offense. What he did not expect was for Kobe Johnson to pass the ball to where Dixon-Waters had just been, only for it to bounce untouched out of bounds.
Coach Andy Enfield could only slump back in his seat, a dejected look on his face as the third-seeded Trojans wasted opportunity after opportunity to mount a comeback in Friday night’s Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal against sixth-seeded Arizona State, which stunned USC with a 77-72 win.
Arizona State was the desperate team, needing to win the Pac-12 Tournament title to guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament field, and the Sun Devils played like it. They dove to the floor after every loose ball. They flew across the court to close out on open shooters. After a player on the court drew a foul, the bench rose to its feet in celebration.
The hustle showed up in the first-half box score, between eight offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points and five steals.
USC, meanwhile, was rudderless. Five turnovers in 2:36, eight consecutive missed field-goal attempts, and no clear or even hazy secondary scorer behind Boogie Ellis, whose teammates shot 4 for 20 from the floor prior to halftime.
USC (22-10) had its chances in the second half. It made five of seven shots during one stretch to cut the deficit to nine. Ellis drew an offensive foul, and USC could have inched closer. But after a Johnson miss, Arizona State (22-11) grabbed a long offensive rebound after a miss at the end of the shot clock. Two passes later, Duke Brennan had an open layup.
There was no better opportunity than when Dixon-Waters completed a vicious tomahawk dunk through a smack to his face. The foul was upgraded to a flagrant, giving Dixon-Waters two free throws and USC the ball back.
But he split the two shots, then Ellis turned the ball over, leading to an ASU 3-pointer. Instead of a potential…
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