Trojans’ Victory a Longshot, 85-84

EUGENE, Ore. —  Do not let it be said that USC went quietly into that good night.

Not when the Trojans silenced the 8,741 screaming fans packed to the rafters at Oregon’s McArthur Court. Not when they beat an Oregon team, 85-84, coming back from 15 points down with eight minutes remaining.

They won when Adam Spanich put together a remarkable three seconds of basketball.

The senior guard made a three-pointer of his own with 2.8 seconds remaining, then sprinted back to steal an inbounds pass and let loose a half-court shot that swished at the buzzer, giving the Trojans an improbable victory Thursday night.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to be short,” Spanich said. “But it wasn’t. It went right through.”

The basket gave Spanich--who beat Arizona on a shot at the buzzer last season--his sixth three-point basket for a game-high 26 points. It also gave USC its first lead of the night.

“It shouldn’t have come down to that,” Oregon guard Darius Wright said. “We should have put them away.”

The Trojans (10-2, 2-1) embarked on this, their first Pacific 10 Conference trip, with two goals in mind. Realistically or not, they started the season hoping to win all of their home games and steal a few on the road, so last week’s loss to Arizona left them hoping to get well with an upset at McArthur. They also were looking for their 10th win, one more than they had all of last season.

And like Oregon (9-3, 1-2), which split its first two conference games, USC wanted to stick close to conference front-runners Stanford and UCLA. The question was: Which USC team would show?

The one that shot a season-high 60% and gave up only 70 points in a victory over Arizona State? Or the one that shot a season-low 37% and gave up 87 points in a loss to Arizona?

The answer was not promising early on. The Ducks quickly realized they could get free for three-point shots. Alex Scales, who scored 17 points, went three for three from long range and Frederick Jones, who had 15 points, missed only one of four three-point attempts as Oregon raced to a 32-20 lead.

USC answered with Spanich, who made his first two three-point shots to keep the game from getting out of hand. But the defense could not make enough stops and the Ducks’ lead grew to 45-30.

The Trojans had a response, though.

“We have this mentality where we never give up,” USC guard Elias Ayuso said. “You never know what can happen.”

Six minutes into the second half, USC began to chip away at the lead. The defense played a little tighter, the Ducks played a little looser and Ayuso got hot enough to close the gap to 58-50.

“They put on a shooting display in the second half,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “That brought them back into the game.”

The Trojans shot 57% from the field and made nine of 13 three-point attempts in the second half. Even when Oregon guard Terik Brown came off the bench to make three long-range baskets, Spanich answered the call, matching him nearly shot for shot, making the score 76-71.

That was just close enough as Ayuso scored from three-point range once again and the Ducks missed a string of free throws in the final minute. The score was 84-79 with three seconds left.

Just enough time for Spanich.

“I have probably coached over 800 games and that was probably the best shot I have ever seen,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “The game is never over until the very last second.”