USC Goes to the Press for Success

Having been dragged through the muck and mire that is Stanford’s systematic and methodical style of play for 20 minutes, USC decided to try something different in the second half.

The Trojans played hard. The Trojans employed a devastating full-court press. And the Trojans won.

No. 23 USC used its press to create Cardinal turnovers, generate steals and pull out a 90-82 victory over 17th-ranked Stanford on Saturday afternoon.

Before a Sports Arena crowd of 9,342, the Trojans improved to 15-4 overall, 7-2 in Pacific 10 Conference play, and remained in a first-place tie with Oregon, which had earlier beaten Washington State.

Stanford fell to 12-5, 5-3.

Down by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Trojans began pressing and were down by seven at halftime, 37-30.

USC attacked the Cardinal throughout the second half and finished with 16 steals, 11 after the half. Stanford, without a true point guard, committed 27 turnovers, 14 in the second half. USC scored 31 points off the turnovers.

The Trojans, coming off their heartbreaking loss to California on Thursday, committed 10 turnovers and were victim to only two Cardinal steals

“We really jumped on them with the full-court press,” said USC power forward Sam Clancy, who had a game-high 24 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth consecutive double-double. Clancy also had four steals and an assist in 37 minutes.

“In the second half, we speeded the game up ... to our speed.”

Indeed, the Trojans, who prefer to run and gun rather than run half-court sets, outscored the Cardinal in fastbreak points, 16-4, and overall in the second half, 60-45.

USC Coach Henry Bibby lambasted the Trojans in the locker room at the break, imploring them to play harder and increase the tempo of the game.

He got it in the inspired play of freshman guard Errick Craven and freshman center Rory O’Neil.

Both fouled out, but Craven broke out of his mini-slump with 18 points, 10 in the second half, and five steals, and O’Neil, who almost chose to attend Stanford over USC, finished with a career-high 14 points, eight after intermission, two blocks and a steal.

“They’re a very conventional team,” Bibby said of Stanford. “We thought that [pressing] might cause them some problems.

“I didn’t think we would rattle them to the degree we did. I thought we should speed them up and disrupt them because they’re not as experienced [as in previous years].”

Stanford was playing without 7-foot center Curtis Borchardt, the Pac-10’s leading rebounder, who was out because of an abdominal strain suffered Thursday against UCLA.

His presence might not have mattered, though, with the voracity of USC’s second-half defense.

“We didn’t do a very good job of handling the pressure,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “We were too casual with the ball and no one did what they were supposed to do.

“We had 27 turnovers and they scored 31 points off of them. I think that’s all that really needs to be said. We had a fundamental breakdown. We had not seen a lot of press until now.”

Casey Jacobsen led Stanford with 21 points, 16 in the second half.

USC opened the game in a 2-3 zone and Stanford’s long-range gunners took advantage, bombing away from beyond the three-point stripe as four of their first eight field goals were three-pointers.

The Trojans struggled with their half-court offense while Stanford was extremely active on defense, building a 35-22 lead with 2:52 remaining in the first half.

That’s when USC finally showed a spark of life, closing out the half with an 8-2 spurt to get within seven, 37-30.

USC opened the second half with a 14-6 run to gain the lead at 44-43, their first advantage since it was 8-6.

Stanford answered, though, and the Cardinal led by one, 65-64, after two Joe Kirchofer free throws with 7:41 remaining.

It was the last time Stanford would lead.

After Craven made a three-pointer from the left wing to put USC up by eight, 80-72, with 63 seconds to play, Stanford was forced to foul.

USC senior point guard Brandon Granville, who picked up his fourth foul with 15:19 to play, returned to the game with 45 seconds remaining, and he converted all eight of his free throws in the game’s waning moments to seal the victory.

“I just had to knock them down,” said Granville, who has made 32 consecutive free throws. “That’s the only reason [Bibby] put me in the game. You’ve got to make your free throws.”

Make your free throws and play a full-court press, with passion.