USC Holds Off No. 9 Oregon, 71-68

Last month the Trojans gave the Ducks their first loss - and only home loss - of the season, 84-82 in Eugene.

Photo: goducks.com

LOS ANGELES - Story by The Associated Press: Courtsey goducks.com

Taj Gibson scored 18 points and Southern California held off a late rally from No. 9 Oregon for a 71-68 victory Saturday to give the Trojans a season sweep of the Ducks for the first time in six years.

Gibson went 7-for-9 from the field and hit a free throw with 16.9 seconds to play to give USC a three-point lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Aaron Brooks led Oregon with 16 points and nine rebounds, but the Pac-10's leading scorer missed a chance for another game-breaking shot when his 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.

Brooks had pulled down a rebound with six seconds to play after Oregon's Chamberlain Oguchi missed a 3.

Nick Young scored 13 and Gabriel Pruitt had 12 points for USC, (18-6, 8-3 Pac-10) which beat a ranked team for the fifth time this season, and will stay in at least second place in the Pac-10.

Last month the Trojans gave the Ducks their first loss - and only home loss - of the season, 84-82 in Eugene.

USC, Oregon and Washington State came into the day in a second-place tie in the conference standings.

Oregon (19-4, 7-4) lost two in a row for the first time this season and lost for the third time on their four-game road trip.

The Ducks were coming off a 69-57 loss at No. 5 UCLA on Thursday.

Tajuan Porter scored 15 and Malik Hairston added 14 for Oregon, which also lost to Washington 89-77 on Jan. 25th.

Coming into the four-game trip the Ducks were 5-0 on the road.

Oregon outrebounded USC 41-20, but were outshot 60 percent to 33.3 percent.

The Trojans led for all but two minutes, and led by 11 at the half, but Oregon opened the second half with a 28-15 run to take the lead.

Oguchi made a 3 with 11:01 to play to tie it at 54, and Hairston made two free throws to give the Ducks a 56-54 lead, their first since the game's second minute.

A layup and a dunk from Gibson quickly gave USC back the lead 60-58 with eight minutes to go.

Gibson had a powerful block followed by a Daniel Hackett layup that put the Trojans up 65-60 with 3:46 to go and brought the crowd to its feet.

A Bruce Taylor layup would pull Oregon within 68-66 but Oguchi missed a short jumper with 1:05 remaining. Pruitt pulled down the rebound and Young made two free throws to give USC a 70-66 lead.

Brooks made two free throws to pull Oregon back within 70-68, but the Ducks wouldn't score again.

Pruitt had 10 points and three assists in the first half to give the Trojans a 39-28 first-half lead.

Pruitt made a pair of 3-pointers during an 8-0 run that gave the Trojans their first double-digit lead 23-13, and later dumped the ball to Dwight Lewis for an assist as Lewis hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer

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