Physical victory puts ASU on brink of NCAA berth

The “P” word came from Jeff Pendergraph, and it made teammate Derek Glasser turn away and snicker.

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It was part of a Pendergraph dissertation on March Madness, of a spring break playing in the NCAA tournament and going places the Arizona State basketball team hadn’t been in a few years.

Pendergraph, always affable and emotional, was on a high of sorts. The Sun Devils knew what was at stake in their final home game Saturday afternoon, and found an extra knife during an 80-66 dissection of USC that ended in a trot around the floor and a quantum leap in their tournament standing.

The word was “powerhouse.”

Glasser knew better. The Sun Devils (18-10, 8-8 Pac-10) are a loss or two next weekend in Oregon from being back on the brink, but a group expected to finish ninth in the Pac-10 at Halloween reveled in this victory.

“We definitely believed in that locker room we could do something special,” Glasser said.

Signs of growth have been everywhere since November, and another was forged against a Trojans team that won nine of its previous 12.

Put aside the season-high 55 points ASU scored in the second half (more than the Sun Devils scored in 11 full games last year); or James Harden’s 24 points with one missed shot; or Pendergraph’s slump-busting day (21 points, nine rebounds) to eclipse 1,000 career points; or how the Sun Devils extended their lead with both Harden and Pendergraph on the bench early in the second half.

Short on size and length, ASU got physical, and the chippiness escalated by the minute.

“We had to come out and be the aggressors and punch them in the face and say, ‘You guys can’t punk us here,’ ” Pendergraph said.

Unlike January’s meeting in Los Angeles, the Trojans (18-10, 9-7) blinked first. USC was whistled for an intentional foul and two technicals while unable to stop Harden as it fell further behind.

As the game grew more physical, the Sun Devils pushed the boundaries, but never crossed.

“There were a number of instances where cooler heads had to prevail,” ASU coach Herb Sendek said.

Those heads wore maroon and gold. Taking a calming cue from Sendek and the team’s prolific pair, Pendergraph and Harden, Arizona State turned a 25-25 halftime draw into a 59-38 lead midway through the second half.

By that time, two Trojans had fouled out and coach Tim Floyd had a technical foul, but a freshman of their own — O.J. Mayo — looked poised to go pro, as many expect.

Mayo’s brilliance (37 points, 7-for-10 from behind the arc) was revealed with 10 points in a three-minute span while the Trojans’ full-court pressure suffocated ASU’s offense. Mayo’s third 3-pointer of the half pulled USC within 71-62 with four minutes left.

But ASU followed with seven of its 34 made free throws (USC made 10 of its 11) to end the comeback and revitalize the “D” word.

Dance.

“If we dropped to 7-9, it was going to be tough,” Harden said. “We knew our tourney hopes were on the line.”