ASU men's basketball (14-11, 4-8 in Pac-12) took on USC (18-6, 7-4 Pac-12) on Friday night attempting to make a late charge up the conference standings.
Coming into the contest, USC and ASU were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Pac-12 respectively in 3-point field goals made. The Trojans provided a statistical challenge for ASU, though: in addition to their conference-leading shooting, they also defend the three well. They lead in 3-point percent defense.
ASU matched USC defensively. Early on, both teams failed to look like the same teams their rankings depicted.
The Sun Devils saw five of their six possessions end with a missed three point attempt. They were firing up the three ball with reckless abandon early and often.
USC's start was no better, turning the ball over four times in its first six possessions.
Through the first eight minutes of the ball game, the two teams had combined to commit more turnovers (10 turnovers combined) than field goals made (9 field goals combined). The score was tied at 10.
Inconsistent play by both sides made it hard for one team to pull away.
Sophomore guard Tra Holder (75 percent on 3-4 shooting) and junior forward Savon Goodman (75 percent on 3-4 shooting) were the only two Sun Devil players shooting above 50 percent from the floor in the first half.
At halftime, USC held a 30-27 lead.
The Sun Devils found themselves fortunate to be down just three points at the break, shooting 33.3 percent from the floor, 26.7 percent from the three-point arc and going just 1-7 from the free throw line.
ASU head coach Bobby Hurley was not very critical of his team's shooting in the postgame press conference.
"I thought some of them were open, and if they're open you have to take them," he said.
Senior guard Gerry Blakes said that Hurley conveyed a similar message during halftime.
"Coach was saying that we didn't really shoot the ball well, our offense wasn't too good (in the first half) but we were still right there," Blakes said. "That gave us confidence to go out and make more plays on the offensive end and stick to our defense."
They stuck to their defense, forcing six USC turnovers in the second half.
ASU's offense mirrored the hot defensive start. The Sun Devils improved their first half shooting mark, going 50 percent in the second half and finishing at 41 percent in the game.
With more aggressive defense and more confidence shooting the ball, ASU outscored USC 47-37 in the second half and pulled out the 74-67 upset over the No. 23 team in the nation.
Reach the reporter at Braxton.Fox@asu.edu or follow @braxton_fox_II on Twitter.
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