January 2, 1999
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Brian Scalabrine scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half Saturday as Southern California rallied for a 72-70 victory over Arizona State in the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both schools.
Scalabrine, scored 12 of his points in the first eight minutes of the second half as the Trojans (9-1, 1-0) continued to whittle away at ASU's 38-29 halftime lead. The Sun Devils led by as many as 18 points in the first half.
Jarvis Turner made a layup with 5:34 remaining to put USC on top 62-61 - the first lead for the Trojans since the opening minute of the game.
Two free throws by Quincy Wilder with 18 seconds left increased USC's lead to 72-67 and turned out to be the difference.
The Sun Devils (8-5, 0-1) had their six-game winning streak snapped and fell short in their bid to gain revenge for a 117-71 loss at USC in the final game of last season. That loss most likely knocked ASU out of the NCAA tournament.
Elias Ayuso, who came off the bench to score 18 points, made two 3-point shots as USC outscored ASU 14-4 in a 4 1/2-minute span to tie the score at 60 with 6:18 remaining.
Wilder finished with 11 points.
Bobby Lazor led the Sun Devils with 19 points. Mike Batiste added 14; Eddie House had 11 and Alton Mason scored 10 for ASU.