No. 22 Southern California 80, No. 19 Arizona 75

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) _ Lodrick Stewart returned to Mississippi last weekend for an emotional gathering of his family, then he was ill and missed practice this week. <br/><br/>Southern California coach Tim

Friday, February 16th 2007, 7:00 am

By: News On 6

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) _ Lodrick Stewart returned to Mississippi last weekend for an emotional gathering of his family, then he was ill and missed practice this week.

Southern California coach Tim Floyd was hoping to get good spot duty out of his senior Thursday night. He got much, much more.

Stewart scored 26 points, two shy of his career high, and the 22nd-ranked Trojans ended a 21-game losing streak at McKale Center with an 80-75 victory over No. 19 Arizona.

``This one,'' Stewart said, ``will put a smile on my face for a while.''

Nick Young also scored 26 in USC's first victory in Tucson since Jan. 17, 1985. Stewart was 9 months old then.

``I wasn't born,'' Young said.

In other Top 25 games, No. 15 Oregon was upset 63-61 by California; No. 24 Indiana lost to Purdue 81-68; and No. 5 UCLA beat Arizona State 67-61.

The Trojans (19-7, 9-4 Pac-10), who swept the season series with Arizona, outscored the Wildcats 8-2 over the final three minutes.

``We had them down and they came right back and hit shots in our face,'' the Wildcats' Chase Budinger said. ``When we have the momentum, we have to keep it.''

Coach Tim Floyd kept Stewart out of the starting lineup, but he was there at the finish.

``He was sick and not able to practice all week,'' Floyd said. ``We knew he would play limited minutes and we wanted him in there in key periods in the game. He was terrific.''

Gabe Pruitt added 17 points for USC.

``Nick and Gabe were outstanding,'' Floyd said. ``It is the best all three of them have played.''

Stewart returned to Mississippi last weekend for the funeral of his 98-year-old great-grandfather. His mother, meanwhile, has been hospitalized with a nervous breakdown.

``My family, that's my motivation,'' Stewart said. ``It's hard not being around them.''

His father, though, was in the crowd for Thursday's game.

``I knew my dad was going to be here,'' Stewart said. ``I put on a show for him.''

Budinger scored 18 points and Mustafa Shakur 16 for Arizona (17-8, 8-6).

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Wildcats, who are home against No. 5 UCLA on Saturday.

Arizona shot 54 percent, but committed 16 turnovers to USC's nine.

``The difference in the game was turnovers,'' Wildcats coach Lute Olson said. ``Most of them were forced by good defense, but some of those were our fault. We couldn't get a handle on the ball. There isn't much I can say other than you can't commit 16 turnovers and beat USC.''

In a game that was close throughout, Budinger made two free throws with 3:24 to go to put the Wildcats ahead 73-72.

Stewart, who made 11 of 15 shots, sank a 15-footer to put USC ahead for good 74-73.

Arizona's Marcus Williams lost the ball, the last of his seven turnovers, then fouled Young while the USC junior made a 15-footer. Williams fouled out, and Young's three-point play gave the Trojans a 77-73 lead with 2:26 to go.

After another Arizona turnover, Pruitt's steal on Shakur's bad pass, Pruitt made two free throws and USC led 79-73 1:08 from the finish.

Shakur's driving layup cut it to 79-75 with a minute left, but Arizona got no closer.

Southern California extended its winning streak over Arizona to three games, its longest against the Wildcats since 1983.

No. 5 UCLA 67, Arizona State 61

At Tempe, Ariz., Arron Afflalo scored 24 points, Darren Collison added 18 and UCLA rallied from a 10-point deficit.

Trailing 49-39 with 10:24 to play, the Bruins took command with an 18-2 run, with Darren Collison hitting three 3-pointers and Afflalo another to put UCLA ahead 57-51.

UCLA (22-3, 11-2 Pac-10) rebounded from a 70-65 loss at West Virginia on Saturday, and the Bruins remained atop the Pac-10, a half-game ahead of No. 10 Washington State.

Jeff Pendergraph scored 14 points for Arizona State (6-20, 0-14), which lost its school-record 15th straight game.

California 63, No. 15 Oregon 61

Ryan Anderson converted a three-point play with 1:01 remaining to help host California end a six-game losing streak.

The Golden Bears (13-12, 5-8 Pac-10) held Oregon (20-6, 8-6) scoreless for the final 4:31 of the game _ including misses by Bryce Taylor and Chamberlain Oguchi in the final seconds _ to win for the first time since Jan. 18 at Oregon State.

Anderson led Cal with 18 points. Tajuan Porter scored 14 points for the Ducks.

Purdue 81, No. 24 Indiana 68

At West Lafayette, Ind., David Teague scored a career-high 32 points to help Purdue snap a five-game losing streak in the intrastate rivalry.

Teague made 11 of 18 field goals, including 6-for-8 from 3-point range. Carl Landry added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Purdue (17-9, 6-6 Big Ten).

D.J. White scored 20 points for Indiana (17-7, 7-4).