USC Beaten by Poor Shooting, Defense : College basketball: Trojans are their own worst enemy as Stanford hands them their fourth loss in a row, 85-82.

No matter how many starting lineup or game-plan adjustments USC Coach Charlie Parker makes, the Trojans’ longest losing streak of the season will continue until their shooting and defense improve.

That was the case Saturday, when USC lost its fourth consecutive game, falling to No. 17 Stanford, 85-82, before 2,681 at the Sports Arena.

Not even a boost from junior guard Ty Reuter, who made his first start and scored a career-high 13 points, and 6-foot-11 reserve center David Crouse, who scored 10 points and grabbed a career-best six rebounds, was enough to save the Trojans, who rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit but still fell short.

In dropping to 7-11 overall and 2-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference, USC can blame this loss on its 38% shooting from the field compared to Stanford’s 51%.

The final score was close only because of the Trojans’ 22 offensive rebounds and some late three-point shooting by freshman Cameron Murray. Stanford (13-3, 4-3) was simply too strong inside with 6-7 Andy Poppink’s 20 points and 7-1 Tim Young’s 19 points and eight rebounds.

“We may be short in numbers and short in height and maybe a little short in talent,” Parker said. “But we’re not going to be short on heart.”

From the start, Stanford’s edge in size gave USC problems as the Cardinal scored the first seven points of the game before Reuter put the Trojans on the board with the first of his two three-point baskets.

Stanford, coming off a three-point loss at UCLA on Thursday night, dominated most of the first half as the Trojans made only 10 of 29 shots. With USC concentrating on stopping Cardinal guards Brevin Knight and Dion Cross, Poppink and Young combined to score 22 points, making 11 of 18 shots from the field as Stanford took a 44-31 lead by halftime.

Over the last four games, USC has trailed at the half by 20 points (Arizona State), 26 (Arizona), six (California) and 13 (Stanford).

“I think that we keep digging a hole for ourselves by not taking care of details,” said USC forward Jaha Wilson, who had his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. “We’re not doing the little things needed to win. We have to start off games by doing things like rebounding, boxing out and getting steals for (easy points).”

Because of the teams’ poor shooting, Parker told the Trojans’ inside players (Lorenzo Orr, Wilson and Crouse) that they would have to make up the difference with offensive rebounds.

“I told them (that) if we’re not going to hit our shots, we’re going to have to find other ways to score,” Parker said, “and getting offensive boards was our best way.”

After grabbing six offensive rebounds in the first half, USC had 14 in the second as the Trojans fought back after Stanford took a 48-31 lead.

With Murray and Wilson each scoring 15 of their team-high 17 points in the second half, USC cut into the Cardinal’s 14-point lead in the final four minutes of the game.

“After building the lead, we slowed down,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “I think that we were physically tired.”

Down the stretch, Stanford was able to hold on thanks to two free throws each by Knight, who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Cross, who had 18 points, including four three-point baskets.

With the loss, USC’s hopes of finishing among the leaders in the Pac-10 have all but ended. The Trojans now must look to Thursday’s showdown against UCLA at the Sports Arena as a landmark game for their season.

“We got the biggest game of our lives coming up,” Parker said. “We’ve got to forget about these games and look forward. We’re playing an outstanding team in UCLA. Losing two at home can be made up with two wins on the road. But that’s very tough in this league. As long as we play hard and aggressively, I have no problem.”