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USC basketball: Trojans lose final game of 2009-10 season to Arizona in double overtime, 86-84

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USC kept it going and going and going ... extending its sanctions-shortened 2009-10 season by one overtime and then two.

But it had to end at some point, and Arizona’s Nic Wise made a layup with 1.2 seconds left, on Senior Day no less, to give Arizona an 86-84 double overtime win over USC in Tucson. Due to self-imposed sanctions relating to allegations of scandal surrounding former player O.J. Mayo, the Trojans will not play again until next season.

Though USC (16-14 overall, 8-10 in Pacific 10 Conference play) lost its fifth consecutive game, it played much better in this one than in the previous four. The team scored 84 points, a big improvement from the 47.3 it had averaged in its four previous games, and never quit.

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The Trojans led for most of the game, but the lead changed hands many times in the second half before the game’s most controversial play: Nikola Vucevic was called for his fourth foul on Kyle Fogg’s desperation three-point attempt with 0.2 seconds left in the game. Fogg made all three free throws, sending the game to overtime.

Dwight Lewis fouled out of the game with 1:07 left in the first overtime, finishing his 133rd game at USC, the most ever for a Trojan player, with 21 points. Even without him, USC wouldn’t quit, and Marcus Simmons scored on an offensive rebound with 16.3 seconds left to tie the game. Wise missed a shot at the buzzer, sending the game to another overtime.

In the second overtime, Mike Gerrity made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left, but then came Wise’s layup.

Arizona (16-14, 9-9) now prepares for the Pac-10 Tournament, which is scheduled to start Wednesday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

-- Baxter Holmes, reporting from Tucson

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