Cal, Stanford are key games

California and Stanford are coming to town this week, so USC is staging its own version of the Big Game. Twice.

The Trojans, 18-10 overall and 9-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference, still need one victory to secure a winning conference record and erase any anxiety about their NCAA tournament chances heading into Selection Sunday.

“Beat Cal, beat Stanford. Try to win every game from now on,” sophomore guard Daniel Hackett said Saturday of his team’s mind-set going into the last week of the regular season.

“I don’t care about the NCAA tournament [selection] committee, Cinderella team, I don’t care about none of that. I just want to win the next game, and the next game is Cal.”

USC’s best chance to notch a victory this week would figure to come Thursday at the Galen Center against Cal, though the Golden Bears (15-12, 6-10) defeated the Trojans in the first meeting and desperately need a victory to improve their shaky NCAA tournament hopes.

Cal scorched the Trojans’ normally stout defense for 11 three-point baskets and 92 points in January when the teams met at Haas Pavilion. Sophomore forward Patrick Christopher scored 24 points and was one of five Golden Bears in double figures.

A taller order will come Saturday when Stanford and its twin space invaders, the 7-foot Lopez brothers, come to the Galen Center. The Cardinal (24-4, 13-3) has plenty at stake as well as it remains within striking distance of UCLA for the regular-season Pac-10 title and a No. 1 or No. 2 seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Stanford beat USC in January at Maples Pavilion despite shooting only 27%, so the Trojans must wonder what it will take to defeat the Cardinal. One hint: Try not to go one on one with Brook or Robin Lopez in the lane as that tack led only to heartache and rejection -- plenty of it -- in the first meeting.

“All I know is we’ve got two games going back home to finish out the Pac-10 and we just need to play inspired and with a lot of intensity and get us a [win] or two back home,” USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo said Saturday.

USC enters the week alone in fourth place in the Pac-10, half a game behind Washington State (22-7, 10-7). The Trojans could finish as high as third and no worse than a tie for fifth.

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The discrepancy in fouls (USC committed 28, Arizona State 14) and free throws (Arizona State took 39, USC 11) during the Sun Devils’ 80-66 victory over the Trojans on Saturday affected the way USC played on both offense and defense, players said.

“Every time you came down you were scared” a foul would be called on defense, sophomore forward Taj Gibson said.

Offensively, Hackett said, “we couldn’t really establish our inside game early. They called a couple of charges and our bigs got in foul trouble and got frustrated.”

Said Gibson: “You would come down and felt you got fouled but the refs never called a foul.”

Four USC players fouled out: starters Gibson and Davon Jefferson and reserves Hackett and Keith Wilkinson.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com