TUCSON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Kris Richard's tie-breaking, 58-yard interception return with 1:50 remaining Saturday night gave Southern California a 41-34 Pac-10 Conference victory over Arizona.
The interception by Richard, a senior cornerback, was one of four by the Trojans (3-5, 2-3), who improved to 20-6 in the all-time series and kept the Wildcats (3-5, 0-5) winless in the conference.
It was the second career touchdown for Richard.
Early in the second quarter, USC junior cornerback Kevin Arbet had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown that made it 10-10. That came exactly three minutes after Arizona's Michael Jolivette took one back 60 yards for a score.
Neither quarterback was particularly sharp. USC's Carson Palmer completed 24 of 49 passes for 248 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Arizona's Jason Johnson was 24 of 43 for 311 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions.
Arbet's interception return began a 28-point second quarter for the Trojans. Palmer threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Alex Holmes and a 17-yarder to Kori Dickerson around a one-yard scoring run by Sunny Byrd, who had 22 carries for 67 yards.
Sean Keel kicked a 46-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, cutting the deficit to 31-13 and beginning Arizona's comeback. In the third quarter, Clarence Farmer ran 22 yards for a touchdown and Johnson threw a 24-yard scoring pass to Brandon Marshall.
David Davis kicked a 47-yard field goal to give USC a 34-27 lead with 10:46 left. Johnson tied it with a nine-yard touchdown run and untied it with his ill-advised throw to Richard.
Omar Nazel and Bobby DeMars also picked off passes for USC, which was outgained, 412-312.
Bobby Wade caught eight passes for 84 yards and Andrae Thurman added four for 96 for the Wildcats, who have lost 10 straight conference games dating to last season.
