CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP)—Jason Fontenet had 14 points, including 12 in the second half, as Oregon State rallied to beat Southern California 74-64 on Sunday for the Beavers’ sixth straight victory.
David Lucas had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Beavers (10-3, 2-0 Pacific-10) who opened league play with two victories for the first time since 1992-93.
Rory O’Neil had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans (7-6, 0-2), who have lost three of their last four games.
Trailing by as many as seven points in the second half, the Beavers narrowed it to 49-47 on Fontenet’s jumper.
That sparked a 14-4 run capped by Fontenet’s layup that made it 61-53 for Oregon State. Fontenet scored his 12 second-half points during the run.
The Trojans led for most of the first half after an early 8-0 run to go up 11-3, but the lead was short-lived and Oregon State narrowed it to 16-15 on Sasa Cuic’s 3-pointer.
The Beavers were unable to pull in front until Nick DeWitz’s jumper made it 21-20 with 7:37 to go. The widest margin Oregon State managed was a 25-22 lead on J.S. Nash’s layup.
Gabriel Pruitt hit on a mid-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 35-31 for USC at the half.
It was USC’s fifth straight loss on the road. The last game the Trojans won on the road was in Corvallis, a 63-60 victory over the Beavers in last season’s finale.
The Trojans were coming off a 90-83 loss at Oregon in their Pac-10 opener, while the Beavers had an 85-80 victory over UCLA on Friday.
