Success Spoils USC, Which Falls, 92-76

USC basketball Coach George Raveling shook his head in disgust as he studied the statistics sheet after Stanford pounded the Trojans, 92-76, Thursday night at Maples Pavilion.

“It was by far our worst performance in conference play,” Raveling said. “We had one little spurt at the beginning of the game, and after that our big guys got in foul trouble and we were never able to sustain anything.

“Maybe we were due for a game like that (after beating UCLA and Arizona). But tonight we just didn’t have it.”

Although the Trojans (13-8, 4-7) have lost two Pacific 10 Conference games in a row, Raveling maintains USC has a shot to gain its first NCAA bid since 1985.

“I’d bet some big-time money that we’re still going to be a big factor in the conference, and I still think we’ve got a shot at (making) the NCAA,” Raveling said. “It doesn’t make any difference what people write in the paper or what they say. Anybody who doesn’t think USC is going to be a factor in the conference race down the stretch is a fool.”

But the Trojans may be a non-factor in the Pac-10 unless guard Harold Miner breaks out of his shooting slump.

Miner, the Trojans’ top gun, has missed 30 of his last 44 shots over the last two games. Miner, who missed 16 of 22 shots in a five-point loss to Arizona State last Saturday, started fast but finished slowly against the Cardinal.

Miner scored 16 points in the first half as USC built a 13-point lead, but was held to four points in the second half when Deshon Wingate denied him the ball.

“You have no trouble telling who guards Miner after the game,” Raveling said. “All you’ve got to do is fingerprint him. I personally think he’s being held a lot. But he does the best he can.”

After making his first six shots, Miner missed 12 of his last 14 shots. Miner even had an airball on a three-point attempt, and the Maples Pavilion crowd of 6,002 didn’t let him forget it, chanting airball whenever he touched the ball.

“When your shot is on, it’s on,” Miner said. “When it’s off, there’s nothing to explain it.”

With Miner misfiring, the Trojans had no outside game, and their inside game was out of sync when forward Yamen Sanders and Ronnie Coleman got into early foul trouble. Sanders had only eight points and Coleman had 15.

The Trojans couldn’t stop Stanford’s inside game. Forward Adam Keefe scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season before fouling out with 1:57 left. Wingate had 16 points and a career-high nine assists.

Guard John Patrick added 19 points, all in the second half, as the Cardinal (14-9, 7-6) extended its homecourt winning streak to nine against USC. Kenny Ammann had 15 points, making three three-point shots.

Stanford won the game with spurts at the end of each half.

Leading 65-60 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining, Stanford outscored the Trojans, 25-8, to take a 22-point lead with 55 seconds left.

Leading by 13 points with 6:11 remaining in the first half, USC wilted faster than a rose after Valentine’s Day.

Stanford outscored the Trojans, 25-5, to take a 44-37 halftime lead. Keefe keyed the run with eight points and Ammann hit two three-point shots. The Cardinal got a rare five-point play when Ammann made a three-point shot and Keefe, fouled by Coleman as Ammann was sinking the shot, added two free throws.

“The only thing that surprised me was that (the officials) didn’t think of some way to give them seven,” Raveling said.

The Trojans went 4 minutes 59 seconds without scoring a point after Miner made two free throws with 5:01 left in the half.