San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
LAST-SECOND USC STUNNER
Usually, the late-season dramatics belong to UCLA. After all, the Bruins own a record 11 national championships and their all-time roster boasts some of the game’s greatest players.
USC’S basketball history pales by comparison at a school known for its powerhouse football program. But the Trojans stunned the Bruins for the second year in a row on Saturday, winning 64-63 on Tahj Eaddy’s 3pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining.
It was a bitter pill for the Bruins. They lost the regular-season finale the same way a year ago, when Jonah Mathews hit a 3-pointer with 1 second to go on USC’S home court.
This time, it was Eaddy’s turn. The transfer from Santa Clara took a pass from Ethan Anderson and was behind the backboard and nearly falling out of bounds on the left baseline when he launched the well-contested 3-pointer — just the fourth made by USC.
“It’s funny how things come full circle like that,” Eaddy said. “It was special to be able to do it in a USC
USC 64, UCLA 63
uniform against UCLA.”
Eaddy was mobbed by his jumping teammates. The players could be heard celebrating in their locker room as empty Pauley Pavilion immediately went quiet.
Eaddy’s shot wasn’t USC’S first option. The Trojans wanted to go to standout freshman Evan Mobley for an alley-oop play. They had no timeouts left.
“We’re only down two, so we were just trying to extend the play, but they did a good job of guarding that,” Eaddy said. “It was just trying to get a catch before there was a 5second call. We were getting close.”
Now it’s the Trojans whose hopes remain alive for a chance to win their first Pac-12 regular-season title outright since 1960-61. Firstplace Oregon leads the league by percentage points and would have to lose to Oregon State tonight for USC (21-6, 15-5) to claim the title by one game.
“I wouldn’t say it’s amazing, but we’re really excited,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “Of course, we’ll be rooting for Oregon State.”
Eaddy was sliding on the court seconds earlier trying to hold onto the ball, but wasn’t called for traveling.
Mobley led USC with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Eaddy and Chevez Goodwin added 12 points each, and Drew Peterson had 10 points.
The Bruins (17-8, 13-6) were led by Jaime Jaquez Jr. with 12 points. Jules Bernard and David Singleton added 11 points each. They were without leading scorer Johnny Juzang, who tweaked his right ankle in practice on Friday.
“Johnny is a big piece for us, but regardless there’s still five guys on the court,” Jaquez said. “We made some dumb mistakes here and there that really cost us the game, especially myself.”
USC completed a season sweep of the rival Bruins, having beaten them by 18 points last month.
“It’s extremely hard to take,” Bernard said, “but I feel like this loss was self-imposed. Eaddy made a huge shot at the end of the game, but leading up to it there were a lot of mistakes that let them back in the game.”
Peterson sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a free throw by Goodwin to draw the Trojans to 61-60. Cody Riley scored to keep the Bruins ahead 63-60.
Goodwin was 1 of 3 from the free-throw line in the closing seconds. But the Bruins were hardly any better. Jaquez and Bernard both missed the front end of free throws that could have provided some breathing room.
Utah 98, Arizona State 59: At Salt Lake City, Mikael Jantunen and Alfonso Plummer each scored 15 points, Timmy Allen had 13 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and the Utes (11-12, 811 Pac-12) cruised past the Sun Devils (10-13, 7-10).
Utah held Arizona State to just one field goal in the opening six minutes of the second half as it built a 28point lead. The Utes went on a 19-4 run over that stretch with seven points from Branden Carlson and six by Allen.
West Coast Conference
Saint Mary’s 52, Loyola Marymount 47: In Las Vegas, Logan Johnson scored 25 points as the Gaels (14-8) eliminated the Lions (13-9) from the WCC Tournament.