Less Is Better for These Two

Practice makes perfect, but a little less practice may have helped Brian Scalabrine and Brandon Granville play the best games of their careers in one of the biggest upsets of the season.

The sophomore center and freshman point guard looked well-rested in USC’s 86-82 overtime victory over No. 6 Stanford on Saturday. They played more than 40 minutes each, Scalabrine scoring a team-high 22 points and Granville getting 21 points and seven assists.

Attribute those efforts to a scaled-down practice schedule.

“Our youngsters don’t really know how to pace themselves . . . when they need to be off their feet, when they need to eat,” Coach Henry Bibby said last week. “They’re having some problems with playing as many games and having as many intense practices as we have.

“That’s why I’ve backed off the practices, to give the guys more legs, and Brian is saying he feels better when that happens.”

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In beating Stanford, it was only the fourth time in 18 tries since December 1996 that USC has defeated a ranked opponent.

Coming up: Wednesday versus UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, Feb. 25 versus Washington.