Trojans Wilt Under Pressure : College basketball: Arizona State’s defense virtually puts game away early in 81-71 victory.

TEMPE, Ariz. —  For all intents and purposes, Arizona State’s 81-71 victory over USC on Thursday night was over with five minutes left in the first half.

That’s when the No. 13 Sun Devils unleashed a run in which they didn’t allow USC to pass beyond halfcourt on three consecutive possessions and turned a six-point advantage into a 30-17 lead before a crowd of 10,013.

“We were really good defensively in the first half,” said Arizona State Coach Bill Frieder, who gained his 100th victory. “For the last seven or eight minutes of the half, we were superb.”

And he was being modest.

With former USC coach George Raveling watching the Trojans for the first time since retiring two days before the season, Arizona State, 13-3 and 3-1 in the Pacific 10, gave the Trojans (7-8, 2-3) a lesson in how to put a team away with defense. The Sun Devils led, 46-26, at the half.

Using relentless full-court pressure, the Sun Devils had nine steals and forced USC into 18 turnovers with only two assists in the first half. Arizona State also did it from the perimeter in making four of 10 first half three-pointers, while the Trojans missed all three of their attempts.

“Without question, you can’t have 18 turnovers in the first half against a good team like Arizona State,” USC Coach Charlie Parker said. “For a while, we were right there and then all of the sudden, they just exploded on us.”

The only reason the Trojans didn’t lose by 30 points was a big night by Lorenzo Orr, who tied career highs with 26 points and 15 rebounds in 35 minutes.

“Orr was fantastic out there,” Frieder said of the 6-foot-7 senior who kept the game respectable with 21 points and seven rebounds in the second half.

With Orr scoring six quick points, USC tried to rally at the start of the second half with a 10-4 run to cut the Sun Devils’ lead to 14 with 17:50 remaining.

The Trojans’ comeback, however, was short-lived as they self-destructed when Orr and freshman Cameron Murray were assessed technical fouls in a two-minute span. From there, Arizona State put on a show with five breakaway dunks in the first eight minutes of the half to stretch its lead to 24 points, 65-41.

“We had made some adjustments in an attempt to cut down on our turnovers by slowing it up in the second half,” Parker said. “But obviously, we let them build up too big of a lead in the first half.”

Arizona State, which wanted to rest its starters for Saturday’s showdown with UCLA, was led by Ron Riley’s 20 points. Mario Bennett added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and former Manual Arts standout Marcell Capers tied the Sun Devils’ single-game assist record with 14.

Sophomore Jaha Wilson was the only other Trojan to score more than 10 points, recording his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

The Trojans’ backcourt woes on the road continued as starters Burt Harris, Stais Boseman and Murray combined to make only three of 15 shots from the field, including one of seven three-pointers.

“I’m a little disappointed that our guards are letting us down,” Parker said. “I thought that we were a real good shooting team going into the season. When we play well, we are. Normally, our guards are all in double figures scoring, but they did not have a good game tonight.”

USC Notes

The Trojans will play on national television (ABC) at 3 p.m. Saturday against No. 11 Arizona in Tucson.