USC Is Stopped Short Again

Once again, USC almost took out the nation’s top-ranked team.

Once again, the key word is almost.

The Stanford Cardinal had an even tougher time with the Trojans than it did last month in Palo Alto. But, once again, Stanford found a way, earning a 70-68 victory before 8,379 at the Sports Arena.

To beat the Trojans for the fourth consecutive time and seventh time in the last eight games--not to mention four straight on USC’s home court--Stanford had to survive a missed one-and-one by Casey Jacobsen and USC’s Brandon Granville racing up the court with five seconds to play but failing to get a shot off before time ran out. The Trojans did not have a timeout, having used them all up with nine minutes to play.

“I think we wanted this game more than the first one,” said Sam Clancy, who led the Trojans with 16 points. “You usually don’t get the chance to play the No. 1 team in the country twice. We had good chances, but we didn’t take advantage of them.”

Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery knew his team had escaped again.

“A win is a win. We’re very happy right now,” Montgomery said. “USC gave us as hard a game as we’ve played all year up at our place and they did the same thing here. They made us earn it.”

Although the Trojans fell to 18-9 overall and 8-7 in the Pacific 10 Conference, they did not lose any ground to California in the chase for fourth place in the conference. The Bears, who lost to UCLA Thursday, have a two-game lead over USC. It’s a pretty safe bet the NCAA tournament committee will take at least four Pac-10 teams into the field of 65.

USC and Cal play Saturday, and a loss could be devastating to the Trojans’ NCAA tournament hopes.

Don’t think the Trojans don’t know it.

“If we don’t get into the NCAA tournament, the season won’t have much meaning,” forward David Bluthenthal said. “But I think we need to win our last three games to get in.”

It also means the Trojans--whose two losses to Stanford (26-1, 14-1) were by a total of eight points--won’t spend much time playing the “what-if” game.

“If every guy here believes he left everything on the floor tonight, then we won’t have to wonder what else we could have done,” Clancy said. “And the sooner we focus on Cal, the better.”

But there is one aspect of the game USC can’t forget.

By coming out cold to start the second half, making only one shot in the first seven minutes, USC allowed Stanford to expand its 41-34 halftime lead to 53-37. Although the Trojans have made some big comebacks this season, including rallying from a 12-point deficit in the final five minutes to win at Oregon last weekend, they were unable to make it all the way back against the Cardinal.

“Stanford is just good,” said Jarvis Turner. “We wanted to come out, make a couple of stops and get some momentum in the second half. Instead they hit a couple of big threes and go up by 14. And you can’t allow them to do that.”

USC Coach Henry Bibby wanted to praise his team’s effort, but first he had some scolding to do for the continued media reports that he is looking to go elsewhere.

“I’m want to say one thing,” Bibby said. “I’m here to stay at USC. This is where I want to be. Please don’t speculate on what I want to do. Make the rumors cease. I’ll stay at USC as long as [Athletic Director] Mike Garrett wants me.”

USC started out as if it was determined to play its best game of the season.

The Trojans forced a turnover on Stanford’s first possession. The defense also drew two early fouls on Jacobsen, who finished with a game-high 22 points. Clancy showed he wanted to be active, blowing by defenders for a layup.

But Stanford still took the early command, a 10-0 run giving the visitors a 16-8 lead at the 13:44 mark.

USC called timeout, got its bearings, and scored six in a row to make it a game again.

Still, after Clancy tied the score at 25-25, Stanford, which shot 51% for the game, made USC spend the rest of the game catching up.

USC wasn’t helped when it was assessed a technical foul by referee Dave Libbey after a coin was thrown onto the floor from the student section.