The Trojans storm back late to steal an epic victory away from the Sun Devils and advance to the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals against UCLA (Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks).
Click here for the recap and box score.
A Star Is Born
USC looked dead and buried at times this afternoon, constantly frustrated by the Sun Devils and some unfavorable whistles, but freshman guard Elijah Stewart kept the team afloat until his teammates were ready to come along for the ride. Under the Las Vegas lights, he owned center stage, scoring a career-high 27 points, including 12 consecutive late in the second half. "I'm extremely happy for Elijah," said assistant coach Jason Hart. "He grew up right in front of our eyes. We've seen him have games like this before. He just put a full game together. That's what guys do. They step up in big moments. He carried us to victory."
Survival Instinct
Only two words matter in March: survive and advance. Captain Julian Jacobs understood the urgency of the moment coming out of halftime with the help of a pep talk from Hart. He told him, "Nobody is coming through that door," and that if the Trojans were going to go down, Jacobs needed to lead the final fight. "He willed us to a win," said Hart about Jacobs, who finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Their Time
Stewart and Jacobs were not alone. The Trojans used a 19-2 run to chase down the Sun Devils, which means they strung together stop after stop. While PF Nikola Jovanovic was "having a nightmare" game by his own admission, he came through with the game-sealing blocked shot. All season long, USC regretted the conference wins that got away due to the inability to secure the big rebound or execute the game-winning bucket, but today, the young Trojans grew up. "It feels really good. I'm extremely proud of our guys," said Hart. "They fought through a lot all year, and this game here, fought through adversity. These are the games we normally lost this season, but the guys stuck with it, believed in one another, and they came out with a good team victory."
Here are the SnappyTV highlights from a memorable victory:
University Southern California Trojans
Thursday, August 20
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, August 19
