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Southern Cal slips past struggling ASU, 63-61

Trojans get to .500 in Pac-10 play

Nikola Vucevic posted a double-double and Southern Cal secured a 63-61 win over Arizona State at Wells-Fargo Arena in Tempe on Thursday night.

The Trojans (12-9, 4-4) have struggled on the road in Pac-10 play the past couple seasons, but they rode their

Arizona State (9-11, 1-7), which lost its sixth straight league game, led 19-8 just over eight minutes into the contest and was still up 28-20 with 4:35 remaining in the half.

However, USC closed with a 9-3 run to pull within two at halftime.

The Trojans carried that momentum and built an eight-point lead with just under seven minutes to play.

The Sun Devils would chip away, though, and knotted the game at 58 on two free throws by Rihards Kuksiks at the 1:05 mark.

A pair of free throws by Vucevic gave USC a 60-58 lead that it would not relinquish.

ASU's Abbott missed two potential game-winning three-pointers in the game's final seconds.

The Sun Devils, who were a dismal 12-of-25 from the charity stripe, were led by Kuksiks. Kuksiks finished with 22 and Abbott had 19.

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Vucevic posted 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for USC. Maurice Jones also scored in double figures with 14.

Southern Cal will travel to the McKale Center on Saturday to square off with Arizona while the Sun Devils will be hosting UCLA.

By Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum
DFN Sports Staff Writer