He Didn’t Throw in the Towel

After picking up his fourth foul with 15:19 to play against Stanford on Saturday, point guard Brandon Granville was reduced to playing the unaccustomed role of towel-waving cheerleader ... until the game’s final 45 seconds.

Granville didn’t mind.

“Nah, I wasn’t frustrated,” he said. “The guys were rolling, I just wanted to win.”

Granville’s acumen at the free-throw line made sure USC pulled out a 90-82 victory. He made all eight of his free throws, all in the final 45 seconds, and has made 32 in a row.

The senior, who finished with 10 points and five assists in 20 minutes, also had two steals to give him 209 for his career, overtaking Stais Boseman (208) at the top of the USC career chart.

Granville, a four-year starter, is also USC’s all-time leader in assists (693) and three-point field goals (199) and is closing in on minutes played.

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Mired in a three-game “freshman slump,” guard Errick Craven approached Sam Clancy before the Stanford game and told him he was planning on snapping out of it against the 17th-ranked Cardinal.

“I told him, ‘Don’t talk about it, be about it,’” Clancy said.

Craven was all about it against Stanford. After averaging 9.3 points on 30% shooting over the previous three games, Craven torched the Cardinal for 18 points on six-of-12 shooting.

“I was frustrated,” said Craven, who also had five steals, three assists and three turnovers in 34 minutes before fouling out. “You can play defense every night. You can’t make shots every night.”

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Fellow freshman Rory O’Neil showed the Cardinal what it missed out on.

The 6-foot-11 center, who nearly chose to attend Stanford out of Ridgecrest Burroughs High, had a career-high 14 points while making seven of eight shots. He also had four rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist in 24 minutes before fouling out.

“It just so happened that I got some open shots and the shots were dropping,” O’Neil said. “The more time you get, the more comfortable you get and the more you’re into the rhythm of the game.”

Paul Gutierrez