TRIP INTO CELLAR A HORROR STORY TROJANS GIVE ASU FIRST PAC-10 WIN.

Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL

Staff Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Tim Floyd warned his team as early as last Monday that a dangerous opponent was upcoming.

That he was talking about last-place Arizona State when the Trojans hadn't won on the road at Arizona in 22 years was a bit perplexing.

Apparently, Floyd knew what he was talking about.

With a chance to reach 20 victories Sunday and all but lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the Trojans instead suffered the dishonor of being the first team this season to lose to the SunDevils in Pacific-10 Conference play.

Arizona State looked like the NCAA Tournament-bound team and No. 22 USC like the cellar dweller over the final 17 minutes, as the Sun Devils pulled away for a 68-58 upset at Wells Fargo Arena.

"It's very, very, very disappointing," USC forward Nick Young said. "This could have been one of those games that put us in the tournament."

Arizona State (7-19, 1-14) was on the verge of becoming the first team ever to go winless in the Pac-10. But the Sun Devils had been on the cusp of breaking through for weeks. Their past five losses had all been by six points or less, including Thursday against No. 5 UCLA.

After ending a 21-game losing streak in Tucson by beating No. 19 Arizona on Thursday, USC players were talking about not wanting to be the first Pac-10 team to lose to the Sun Devils.

That pressure might have gotten to the Trojans down the stretch.

USC led 32-23 three minutes into the second half, then was outscored 45-26 the remainder of the game.

"You have so much going on in your head, like you don't want to get this loss," Young said. "... We didn't settle down."

The Sun Devils went on a quick 10-0 run to take the lead, started by a dunk by Jeff Pendergraph and finishing with a 3-pointer from Derek Glasser.

Glasser, a freshman point guard who had originally announced he would commit to USC then changed his mind in favor of Arizona State, made another 3-pointer to finish off a 7-0 run that put the Sun Devils ahead 47-39 with 6:22 left.

Arizona State's zone defense frustrated USC from there on out. Young had just two of his 11 points in the second half. Freshman forward Taj Gibson, who had scored in double figures in 19 of USC's previous 26 games, was held scoreless for the first time.

"Every coach in the league has been talking about it, how they've been so close," Floyd said of ASU. "I think everyone knew they were going to get one at some point. They just played better than we did."

Gabe Pruitt led USC with 22 points, and Lodrick Stewart added 18.

ASU snapped a 22-game losing streak against ranked teams that dated to March 2002. The Arizona State students stormed the court after the final buzzer.

With the loss, USC dropped into a tie with Stanford for third place in the conference.

Though USC remains in good position to make the NCAA Tournament, its seeding will almost certainly take a hit.

"It's a black eye for us, but we know there's a couple of more games ahead of us, so we have to keep fighting," Gibson said. "We can't dwell on this one loss. This is the big win for their season, but we have bigger things ahead and more important things to worry about."

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Arizona State fans storm the court after the Sun Devils beat USC on Sunday to snap a school-record 15-game losing streak.

(2) Arizona State's Antwi Atuahnene breaks toward the basket after stripping the ball from USC's Nick Young on Sunday.

Roy Dabner/Associated Press

Box:

PAC-10 STANDINGS