Jacobs scored 15 as USC holds off Arizona State, 75-65
LOS ANGELES (AP) Julian Jacobs scored 15 points, Bennie Boatwright added 14 and Southern California held off a furious rally to beat Arizona State 75-65 in its conference home opener Thursday night.
The Trojans (13-3, 2-1 Pac-12) led by as many as 17 in the second half before the Sun Devils (10-5, 0-2) rallied to cut it to 65-63 with 1:01 to go. A two-handed dunk on a fastbreak by Chimeze Metu halted the Sun Devils rally and started a 10-2 USC run in the final minute to secure the win.
The Trojans surpassed their win total from all of last season with the victory. They went 12-20 in 2014-15.
Metu and Reinhardt added nine points apiece for USC and Darion Clark pulled down 10 rebounds.
Tra Holder scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half to lead ASU's rally. Willie Atwood and Andre Speight added 11 points each for the Sun Devils.
