There’s No Joy at USC: Casey Strikes

The large number of freshmen playing basketball in the Pacific 10 Conference this season pretty much guaranteed there would be a few good ones.

And in Casey Jacobsen, Stanford has one of the best.

The 6-foot-6 forward took over Saturday’s game against USC, scoring all of his 13 points in the second half to keep the second-ranked Cardinal rolling to a 67-57 victory before 10,221 at the Sports Arena.

Jacobsen did not lead the Cardinal in scoring; Ryan Mendez came off the bench to drop in a game-high 24, making six of eight from the field (four of five from three-point range) and all eight free throws.

But Jacobsen, the former Glendora High star and the all-time Southern Section scoring leader, set the second-half tone for the Cardinal, which had a 28-23 lead at the break.

The Stanford coaches told Jacobsen at halftime the Trojan defenders were running at him when he spotted up for a jump shot. That left the lane and baseline wide open, and Jacobsen drove to the basket repeatedly, either making layups or getting fouled.

By the 11:53 mark of the second half, Jacobsen had helped Stanford’s lead grow to 48-36. The Trojans’ deficit would not go below 10 points after that.

The win was the seventh in a row for Stanford (19-1, 8-1), whose only loss was at home to Arizona. The Cardinal and Wildcats remain tied for the conference lead.

USC (13-8, 6-3) began the weekend in a four-way tie for first in the Pac-10. But after losing their second game in a row and third of four, the Trojans have dropped to fourth.

Brian Scalabrine led USC with 20 points, followed by Jeff Trepagnier with 16.

Stanford’s victory capped the most successful Southern California trip for the Bay Area schools in more than 71 years. You have to go back to the 1928-29 season for the last time Stanford and California swept USC and UCLA on the same weekend in Los Angeles.

“It’s tough to be swept at home,” USC Coach Henry Bibby said. “You’d think you’d get Cal, a game you’re supposed to win, and then maybe upset these guys. We didn’t look past Cal toward Stanford. Every game is crucial.”

And they are getting more so, now that the first round of conference play has concluded.

“I still say we’re in a good position at the turn,” said USC’s Brandon Granville, who had a second consecutive subpar scoring game with only six points. “The long-term goal is still the NCAA tournament. If we can put some things back together in the second half of the conference, we should still have good shot at that.”

Cardinal Coach Mike Montgomery agreed. “USC should be looked hard at for the NCAAs. Had we not boarded well with our 19 turnovers we would have been in trouble. We played well defensively today, and played better offensively in the second half.”

None more than Jacobsen.

“In the first half I was just out of my head,” Jacobsen said. “I wasn’t aggressive and I only took three shots. I was very timid out there.

“I think some teams may think I’m just a three-point shooter. What I want teams to say about me is I can do both.”

But Stanford does more than play smart. It also defends and rebounds. The Cardinal overwhelmed USC on the boards 50-27, and held the Trojans to 32.8% shooting. That’s in keeping with the 33.7% opponents have shot this season against the Cardinal, which leads the nation.

“We held them to 67 points and that’s not bad,” Bibby said. “[But] we didn’t move the ball. The same thing happened against Cal. We’d get to one spot and then stop. We didn’t execute that part of the offense.”

USC did have an early 15-9 lead after Nate Hair dropped in a three-pointer at the 10:40 mark. But then the basket became off-limits to USC, as Stanford cut off all interior passing lanes and made USC settle for perimeter shots. The Trojans would go nine minutes without a field goal until Scalabrine made a 14-foot jumper with 1:39 left in the half. They finished the half with 23 points while shooting 27.6% (eight of 29). Both were season lows.

“We just couldn’t score,” Hair said with a sigh. “Their defense was solid and soon we fell into one-pass-and-shoot.”

PACIFIC 10 STANDINGS

Team W-L

Stanford 8-1

Arizona 8-1

Oregon 7-2

USC 6-3

California 4-5

Arizona St. 4-5

UCLA 3-6

Washington 3-6

Oregon St. 2-7

Washington St. 0-9

LONG BEACH WINS AGAIN

The 49ers won their 14th in a row, 98-82, over Fullerton. Page 8

WOMEN

UCLA WINS

Martin scores 28 as Bruins top Cal to end losing streak. Page 7

USC LOSES

Flores scores 21 to keep Stanford tied for the Pac-10 lead. Page 7