USC
Oregon State *
Oregon St. Pulls Out Rare LA Win
January 30, 2003 | Men's Basketball
By JOHN NADEL
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - Brian Jackson scored 15 of his 26 points in the second half, and freshman Chris Stephens added a career-high 17 points Thursday night as Oregon State beat Southern California 83-74.
The win gave Oregon State (10-7, 3-5 Pac-10) a three-game winning streak against conference opponents for the first time in four years and enabled the Beavers to snap a seven-game losing streak to USC at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
The Beavers won despite the fact that Philip Ricci and Jimmy Haywood, their top two scorers, were held to five and seven points, respectively.
Freshman Lamar Hurd added 13 points for the Beavers to equal his career high.
Roydell Smiley led USC (7-9, 3-5) with 16 points before fouling out in the final minute. Errick Craven added 15 points and Desmon Farmer scored 14 for the Trojans, who lost for the fifth time in six games.
USC scored nine straight points early in the second half to go ahead 49-44, but with Jackson scoring 10 points, the Beavers responded with a 22-9 run for a 66-58 lead.
They were on top the rest of the way.
It was 70-60 when Craven scored five straight points and Farmer added two free throws to move USC within three points with 5:31 remaining.
Craven missed a 3-point shot that could have tied it with a little under three minutes to play, and Jackson made a 3-pointer at the other end to give the Beavers a 75-69 lead.
A foul shot by J.S. Nash extended Oregon State's lead to seven points before Smiley made a 3-pointer with 1:16 remaining for his only points of the second half to draw USC within four.
But the Beavers scored the next seven points - all from the free throw line - to clinch the victory.
Stephens, averaging 2.8 points, made three 3-pointers in the first nine minutes as Oregon State took a 19-15 lead.
Smiley made a 3-pointer at that stage to trigger a 19-5 run he capped with another 3-pointer, putting the Trojans on top 34-25.
Smiley, averaging 8.1 points, scored 11 during the spurt.
Then, it was Oregon State's turn as the Beavers outscored the Trojans 17-6 for a 42-40 halftime lead.
Stephens made his fourth and fifth 3-pointers during that run, enabling him to surpass his previous career high of 14 points. He was held to two free throws in the second half.
The Beavers hadn't won three straight games against Pac-10 opponents since the 1998-99 team beat Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon in succession at Gill Coliseum.
