USC
Cal State Fullerton
Men's Basketball Clobbers Cal St-Fullerton, 78-63
December 11, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec 11, 2002
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - Rory O'Neil scored a career-high 22 points and USC defeated Cal State-Fullerton 78-63 Wednesday night to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Trojans (3-3) held on to a halftime lead after blowing leads at the break in their previous two losses.
The game was close for the first 10 minutes until USC used a 28-16 run to end the half ahead 41-29 in front of 2,096 at the Sports Arena. The Trojans shot 52 percent, much better than the 33 percent they managed in their two previous losses.
Robert Hutchinson, who missed Saturday's loss to then-No. 15 Missouri with a sprained ankle, tied his career-high with 17 points. He made his first seven shots of the game and hit all three of his 3-point attempts. The Trojans hit 10 3-pointers to Fullerton's four.
Desmon Farmer added 13 points, giving him double figure-scoring in all six of USC's games.
Ralphy Holmes scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half for the Titans (1-5), who have lost three in a row. They were playing USC for the first time and fell to 2-17 against Pac-10 schools.
Pape Sow added 18 points in a game attended by three NBA scouts, including ones from the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers. The Titans committed 25 turnovers.
Fullerton led by four points early in the game, which was tied three times in the first half.
Hutchinson sparked the Trojans' big run by scoring eight consecutive points in the spurt that gave USC its first double-digit lead of the game. Holmes scored 12 of his points during USC's run.
The Trojans' hot shooting continued in the second half, when they maintained at least a 20-point lead for much of the way. They had 12 steals and 22 turnovers in the game.
USC opened with a 20-7 run, including four 3-pointers, to take a 61-36 lead.
O'Neil showed off his inside-outside game, hitting two straight 3-pointers. The 6-foot-11 sophomore fouled out with 3:36 remaining. His previous high was 14 points against Stanford last season.
Fullerton outscored USC 15-8 to get to 69-51 with six minutes left in its only consistent scoring run of the second half.
