TEMPE — Shooting 31% from the field, and going more than 11 minutes without a made basket don't normally lead to a win. But all the Arizona State Sun Devils needed was a friendly bounce, spin and roll.
Remy Martin dribbled to his right, pulled up and got the shooter's roll on the rim on a jumper with 19 seconds left, and Arizona State held on for a 66-64 win over Southern California on Saturday night.
Martin's 22 points, 16 of those in the second half, led Arizona State (15-8 overall, 6-4 in Pac-12), which has won three straight and five of six. Alonzo Verge Jr. added 16 points as the Sun Devils rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit.
“I didn't feel comfortable playing how I was playing, but I knew that shot was going to be open,” Martin said. “And that's a shot that, since I've been here, that mid-range shot has been something I've been working on consistently. I got the roll and as it was rolling, I was like ‘Please! All the hard work that I've put in... Just drop in.'"
Jonah Mathews’ 22 points led USC and Daniel Utomi added 15 for USC (17-7, 6-5), which has lost three in a row. The Trojans committed 24 turnovers, 16 in the second half, and fell into a tie for fifth in the conference.
“This league is very tough, especially on the road,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “We've won a few close games this year and we've lost a couple of close ones.”
The Trojans went cold for a long stretch in the second half, but came back to take the lead again late in the game. Arizona State went ahead 56-52 when Martin made a layup and then threw down a dunk with 11:28 to play.
It was the last basket for the Sun Devils until Martin's heroics. Meanwhile, USC took a 64-59 lead, then Martin made three free throws to tie it with 2:15 left.
“We know we're supposed to have been doing this," Verge said of the team's current run of wins. “It's just finally starting to string together now.”
Mathews led the Trojans with 17 first-half points, although he went to the locker room briefly after he appeared to injure his right arm when he fell after a blocked layup attempt.
Nick Rakocevic scored all eight of his points in the first half, and USC took its largest lead of the half on a Utomi layup and free throw for a 33-20 advantage with 5:34 until halftime.
Arizona State closed the half down 40-32, with Verge scoring 13 points in the first 20 minutes. But the Sun Devils shot just 35%.
Martin’s steal and two-handed dunk made it 56-52 and got the crowd on its feet with thunderous applause, and USC went more than 3 1/2 minutes without a point in the second half.
Oregon State's Kylor Kelley (24) tries to get past Oregon's Shakur Juiston (10) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020. Oregon State won 63-53. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
OREGON STATE 63, No. 14 OREGON 53
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Zach Reichle hit a key 3-pointer down the stretch and Oregon State overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat No. 14 Oregon.
It was the third consecutive win for Oregon State in the 353rd edition of the Civil War, which is the most contested rivalry in college basketball.
Oregon State (14-9, 4-7 Pac-12) hit six consecutive free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
Ethan Thompson, whose dunk with three seconds left punctuated the victory before a sellout crowd at Gill Coliseum, led the Beavers with 15 points. Kylor Kelley added 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and leading scorer Tres Tinkle had 13 points.
Payton Pritchard led the Ducks (18-6, 7-4) with 16 points, but the Pac-12’s leading scorer was only 7 of 21 from the field.
Reichle’s fast-break dunk put the Beavers on top 50-48 at the 2:52 mark.
Tinkle hit both ends of the bonus to give Oregon State a four-point advantage, and Pritchard’s layup over the outstretched hand of 7-footer Kelley cut the lead to 52-50 with 2:06 left.
Reichle’s 3-pointer gave the Beavers a 55-50 lead at the 1:17 mark.
An 8-0 Oregon run early in the second half culminated by Pritchard’s basket in the lane gave the Ducks their biggest lead at 40-30.
Back came the Beavers.
Reichle’s 3-pointer ended the Ducks' run, and Tinkle’s six straight points cut the lead to 42-40.
Kelley’s alley-oop dunk on an assist from Tinkle tied the game at 42-all with 11:10 remaining.
Thompson’s fadeaway jumper in the lane gave the Beavers their first lead since late in the first half at 44-42 and extended a 10-0 run.
Pritchard’s layup tied the game at 44-all with 6:06 remaining and was Oregon’s first field goal in more than eight minutes.
Oregon closed the first half on a 7-0 run and led 32-28 at the break. The first half was close the entire way with Oregon State holding the largest lead of five points.
Colorado and Stanford players gather to say a prayer for Stanford's Oscar Da Silva, who had hit his head on the floor in a collision during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/Cliff Grassmick)
No. 24 COLORADO 81, STANFORD 74
BOULDER, Colorado — McKinley Wright IV scored 21 points, D'Shawn Schwartz added 20 and 24th-ranked Colorado overcame a cold start, a coach who lost his cool and a 16-point second-half deficit to beat short-handed Stanford 81-74 Saturday.
All of Tyler Bey's 11 points and nine of his dozen boards came in the second half when the Buffaloes shot 70% from the floor, 100% from behind the arc and 85% from the stripe.
That followed an awful first half in which the Buffs shot 28% from the floor, 23% from three-point range and 54% from the line.
At 19-5 overall and atop the Pac-12 at 8-3, the Buffaloes are off to the best start in their history, topping the 1954-55 and 1968-69 squads that started out 18-6.
Stanford (16-7, 5-5), which led 39-23 early in the second half, lost its leading scorer, Oscar Da Silva, to a head laceration on a scary collision early in the second half, and he finished with 3 points, 13 below his average.
Jaiden Delaire scored 19, Tyrell Terry had 18, Spencer Jones 14 and Isaac White 12 for the Cardinal.
The Buffs trailed 33-22 at halftime following a five-point swing in the final two-tents of a second of the first half.
Terry fired up a 3-pointer that Eli Parquet got a hand on. Colorado coach Tad Boyle was assessed a technical after Parquet was called for the foul.
Terry sank all five free throws, sending Stanford into the locker room with an 11-point lead instead of 6.
Da Silva left the game with 16:28 remaining after slamming his head on the floor while defending a breakaway by Evan Battey, who had stolen the ball and was charging toward the basket when they collided.
A body board was brought out but eventually Da Silva sat up on his own and was helped off to the locker room. He didn't return. Battey also was escorted to his locker room but later returned and finished with 13 points.
Before play resumed after the scary scene, both teams huddled at midcourt in a team embrace. Schwartz sank both free throws for Battey to cut Colorado's deficit to 41-32.
Battey returned minutes later with the Buffs down 47-41, and his runner gave Colorado a 51-49 lead. The Buffs took the lead for good on Bey's two free throws with 7:44 remaining that made it 58-56.
California's Matt Bradley, center, and Dimitrios Klonaras, right, defend against Utah forward Timmy Allen during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
UTAH 60, CALIFORNIA 45
SALT LAKE CITY — Timmy Allen scored 21 points to help Utah beat California on Saturday night.
Eight different players scored to help the Utes earn their second straight Pac-12 victory. Utah (14-9, 5-6 Pac-12) also beat the Bears for the third straight time in the series.
Matt Bradley scored 13 points and collected seven rebounds to lead California (10-13, 4-6). The Bears remain winless in seven true road games this season.
Utah built a double-digit lead multiple times in the first half after taking advantage of a pair of prolonged shooting droughts by California.
The Bears went 3 ½ minutes without scoring a basket, allowing Utah to rip off a 12-2 run and take a 17-6 lead. Riley Battin and Rylan Jones made back-to-back baskets to punctuate the spurt.
Paris Austin keyed a temporary surge with back-to-back layups. Kareem Story followed with a 3-pointer that made it 17-14. Then California went cold again, missing five straight shots and failing to score over a four-minute stretch.
Utah did not waste the opportunity to pull away again. Alfonso Plummer made back-to-back baskets and Battin buried a 3-pointer to extend Utah's lead to 24-14.
California had a chance to rally when the Utes missed 8 of 9 shots to open the second half. The Bears could not overcome their own offensive struggles long enough to get back into the game. They closed to within 36-28 on Andre Kelly's layup before going 3 ½ minutes without scoring.
Utah finally found a spark behind a pair of layups from Mikael Jantunen that fueled a 12-5 run. Branden Carlson buried a jumper to cap the run and give the Utes a 48-33 lead with 6:51 remaining.
