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Young, Gibson lead USC to double-overtime upset of Washington

Dec 29, 2006 - 9:19 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Nick Young and Taj Gibson wanted to prove to doubters of Southern California basketball that wins against top 25 programs should not be such a surprise.

Young scored 25 points and Gibson added 22 as USC posted an 86-79 double-overtime victory over No. 13 Washington in the Pac-10 Conference opener for both teams.

Gabe Pruitt added 18 points, including five in the second overtime, for the Trojans, who captured their second consecutive victory over a top 25 team. On Saturday, USC defeated No. 8 Wichita State, 60-56, in a Las Vegas tournament.

"This was a really good win for our club," USC coach Tim Floyd. "I thought our poise was responsible for keeping us around in the game."

Young shot 8-of-16 from the field, and scored 12 points in both overtime sessions for USC (11-3, 1-0 Pac-10), which has won nine straight home games.

With the score tied at 75-75 with 2:47 left in the second overtime, Pruitt and Young both made a 3-pointer around two baskets by Washington to give the Trojans an 81-79 lead with 1:35 remaining. Young made three free throws and Pruitt added two in the final minute to seal the victory.

"We knew this was a good opportunity for us to play two ranked teams in a row and two beatable teams," Pruitt said. "We just did what we had to do, stay poised, that's what we did and we came out with a victory."

Pruitt could have won the game at the end of regulation but his fadeaway jumper with Washington guard Ryan Appleby in his face just ticked off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

The Trojans appeared in good shape to end the game after the first overtime as well. Keith Wilkinson made a free throw to give USC a 73-70 lead with 18 seconds left, however, Washington center Spencer Hawes made a 3-pointer with no time remaining to send the contest into a second extra session.

"He's capable of hitting those shots," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We had confidence he could knock that 3-pointer down."

Hawes finished with 24 points and Appleby added 18, all on 3-pointers, for the Huskies (10-2, 0-1 Pac-10), who have absorbed both of their losses on the road this season.

"We tell our guys from day one, of course we'd like to get the win, but we're more interested in the effort," Romar said. "I'm proud of the way our guys competed."

USC shot 44 percent (26-of-59) from the field, but was 5-of-9 in both overtimes and made 10-of-13 free throws in the extra periods.

Washington also shot 44 percent (29-of-66), but had only two free throw attempts and had three players foul out after regulation.