Alijah Arenas scored 24 points, including a spinning layup in traffic with 0.7 seconds remaining, as Southern California overcame a 12-point second-half deficit and rallied for a 77-75 victory over Penn State in Big Ten Conference play at University Park, Pa.
Kam Woods scored 13 points with nine assists and Ezra Ausar also had 13 points as USC (18-6, 7-6 Big Ten) extended its winning streak to three games. It is the first time the Trojans have won three consecutive games in Big Ten play since joining the conference last season.
It was USC’s third conference victory this season when rallying from a deficit of at least 10 points. The Trojans, who were playing without leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara (knee), also overcame double-digit deficits to defeat Oregon and Wisconsin.
Freddie Dilione V scored 23 points and Josh Reed added 17 for Penn State (10-14, 1-12), who have dropped consecutive games after their first Big Ten victory Feb. 1 against Minnesota. Ivan Juric scored 13 points after missing the previous two games.
Penn State took its first double-digit lead at 48-38 with 18:09 remaining on a jumper from Dilione. A dunk from Dilione less than a minute later put the Nittany Lions up 50-38.
Penn State still led 53-42 with 15:56 left when USC began to close the gap with a 9-0 run that cut the deficit to 53-51 with 12:55 remaining. USC jumped on top 56-55 on a three-point play from Woods with 10:56 left.
Arenas, who scored the Trojans’ last eight points, was playing his sixth college game after starting the season for USC with a knee injury. He combined to score 30 points over his first four games before a breakout 29-point game against Indiana in a home victory Tuesday.
Penn State took a 40-36 lead at halftime by shooting 53.1% from the floor and getting 13 points from Dilione. Arenas and Ausar each had nine points in the first half for USC, which made half of its 32 shot attempts.
