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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:36 p.m., Saturday, March 14, 2009

CBKB: Free throws lift USC to first Pac-10 tournament title

By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES — Daniel Hackett hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with 42 seconds remaining and Southern California held on for a 66-63 victory over No. 23 Arizona State on Saturday to win the Pac-10 tournament championship for the first time.

Freshman DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points, Hackett added 19 and Dwight Lewis 13 for the sixth-seeded Trojans (21-12), who overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to become the lowest seed to win the tourney.

James Harden, the Pac-10 player of the year, missed a free throw, a layup and a 3-pointer in the final 50 seconds for the fourth-seeded Sun Devils (24-9). They were led by Jeff Pendergraph with 20 points and Derek Glasser with 16 in the school's first appearance in the title game.

The Trojans had been 0-3 in league tourney finals, losing to Oregon in 2003 and 2007 and to Arizona in 2002. The previous lowest-seeded team to win was Oregon six years ago. USC split with the Sun Devils during the regular season.

DeRozan was named the tournament's most outstanding player, and USC fans responded by chanting "One More Year!" to the rookie who may be headed to the NBA draft.

Lewis hit a 3-pointer in front of USC's bench that left the Trojans trailing 63-62 with 1:01 remaining. Harden was called for an offensive foul and turnover at ASU's end, putting Hackett at the line with 42 seconds left. He made both to give USC a 64-63 lead, its first since the game's opening minutes.

Then Harden missed a layup with 19 seconds to go. Gibson got the block and the defensive rebound and was fouled by Glasser. Gibson made one of two free throws for a 65-63 lead.

Harden missed a 3-pointer over Gibson with 4 seconds to play. Harden finished with 10 points, well under his 21.1 average.

The Trojans inbounded and Lewis was fouled. He missed the first and made the second for a 66-63 lead. Glasser's 3-pointer from the far left sideline was off the mark at the buzzer.

Hackett climbed on the scorer's table and pumped his arm to the cheers of USC's fans. Lewis carried a cooler of Gatorade onto the court, but was discouraged from dumping it.

USC turned up its defense to start the second half, pressing the Sun Devils full-court and getting a couple of key steals by Taj Gibson. The Trojans opened on a 29-16 run, including 13 points by DeRozan and nine by Lewis, to close to 55-53 with 8:42 remaining.

During that stretch, the Trojans scored eight in a row, helped on one sequence with a block by Gibson and the defensive rebound by Hackett, who passed to DeRozan for the basket and a foul.

After getting beat inside in the first half, when the Sun Devils owned a 14-6 edge in the paint, the Trojans drove to the basket in the final 20 minutes and it paid off with dunks by DeRozan, Lewis and Gibson. But USC was shaky from the line over the final 6½ minutes, going 6-of-10.

The Sun Devils shot 64 percent from 3-point range in the first half, with six of their last eight field goals coming from beyond the arc. Harden was scoreless with five assists when he hit back-to-back treys to end the half with the Sun Devils leading 39-24.

USC twice tied the game, the last time on Hackett's jumper with 10:40 remaining. But then Ty Abbott launched the 3-point barrage that put the Trojans behind by double-digits.

Coming off a 65-55 semifinal upset of No. 15 UCLA, the Trojans wanted the victory to earn the automatic NCAA tournament berth that goes with the title. Now they're guaranteed to receive their third invitation in coach Tim Floyd's fourth season.

A year ago, USC lost in the first round to Kansas State.