USC basketball: Trojans, Stanford tied in second half

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USC had a 14-point first-half lead against Stanford and was ahead by eight in the early stages of the second half, but the Cardinal chopped both deficits down to size, and the score is now tied, 40-40, with nine minutes to play.

The Trojans were leading, 21-7, but Stanford went on a 16-1 run fueled by the Pacific 10 Conference’s leading scorer, Landry Fields, to take a 23-22 lead with 4:35 left in the first half.

Fields, who came in averaging 22.9 points, had a game-high 14 points at halftime, which is what he had in the whole game when the teams met last month in Palo Alto. He has averaged just 7.8 points in seven games against USC.

Nikola Vucevic led USC with 10 points and six rebounds at intermission. When the teams last met, he missed a potential game-winning tip-in at the buzzer in a 54-53 Stanford victory, but has been playing well so far today. He was four for eight from the field and scored inside and out.

Stanford was five for eight from three-point range in the half, USC one for six.

Also notable: USC had seven first-half blocks against Stanford.

-- Baxter Holmes