Jamaal Franklin tallied 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds on Sunday night, as No. 25 San Diego State held off Southern California, 66-60, at Galen Center.
James Rahon nailed all three of his three-point attempts en route to 17 points and Xavier Thames added 14 points for the Aztecs (4-1), who have won 25 straight games against teams from California.
"I thought we did a great job on the road and in this environment," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "We are going to enjoy this one."
Eric Wise paced USC (3-3) with 14 points and seven boards, while Jio Fontan followed with nine points and nine assists in the setback, the Trojans' second in a row.
San Diego State led 35-23 at the break, but the Trojans opened the second half on an 18-4 surge, which Wise capped with back-to-back buckets to give USC a 41-39 edge with 13:32 left in the contest.
The Aztecs regained control with a quick 7-0 sprint before USC answered with six straight, as Fontan finished the surge with a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 47-46 advantage.
With the USC lead at one, 55-54, over five minutes later, Franklin finished a dunk in the lane to put the Aztecs back on top for good with 5:04 remaining.
Neither team scored over the next two-plus minutes until some chippiness allowed the Aztecs to grab a decisive advantage.
Franklin drove to the basket and was hit around the throat by USC center Omar Oraby. Oraby was whistled for a contact technical foul and the Aztecs buried 3-of-4 free throws and maintained possession.
Franklin made Oraby pay for the cheap shot, as he buried a jumper to make it a 61-55 margin with 1:50 remaining.
Wise answered with a layup, but Rahon drilled a 3-pointer to press the margin to seven with just over a minute remaining.
Franklin took another cheap shot up high late in the contest and nailed both free throws to give his team a 66-58 lead and put the Trojans away for good.
"The immaturity of the emotional stuff, you can't overcome that against a good team," USC coach Kevin O'Neill said of his team losing their cool late. "That's not acceptable."
Earlier in the contest, San Diego State jumped out to an 18-5 lead on a Rahon triple and led by as many as 19 before carrying a 12-point edge into the locker room.
Game Notes
