Trojans Pull All the Stops

A weary Lodrick Stewart stood up from behind the dais, exhaled and rubbed at his legs.

“My knees are killing me,” the sophomore guard said as he attempted a smile. “I ain’t played defense like that in a while.”

Neither had USC.

The Trojans, having undergone a whirlwind of emotions in the wake of Henry Bibby’s firing as coach and the interim tag put on Jim Saia, had just played their most intense defensive game in recent memory. Their reward was a hard-fought 87-75 defeat of San Diego on Saturday in front of about 5,000 in the first game of the San Diego Slam doubleheader in Cox Arena.

Stewart, who scored a career-high 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including five three-point baskets, in 38 minutes, was selected the game’s most valuable player, though the Trojan victory was a decided team effort.

Senior power forward Gregg Guenther contributed his eighth career double-double with 11 points and a career-best 16 rebounds off the bench, senior guard Errick Craven had 14 points and four steals and the Trojans, who had five players score in double figures, evened their record at 3-3.

San Diego (3-5) was led by senior center Brice Vounang, who had 26 points and nine rebounds.

“It’s a special night for me to get that first win,” said Saia, who lost in his debut to Fresno State on Wednesday. “But it’s more special because we played good basketball. We’re on the right path and it’s nice that the system is taking effect.”

That system, a pass-heavy 1-4 scheme, accentuates movement without the ball while simplifying the offensive sets.

“It’s basically the same that we had been playing but our defense opens up our offense,” said Stewart, who said that his twin brother Rodrick -- who got his release from USC in October -- would be leaving today for Kansas.

“One thing that I love about Coach Saia is that he talks about defense before offense. We run sets but we need to get stops. We didn’t do that against Fresno. We were just hungry and we wanted to win for Coach Saia, our new coach.”

With a decision on a permanent coach possibly being announced this week, the Trojans have seemingly bought into Saia’s simplifying of Bibby’s playbook.

“It helps that we can just go out there and play,” said senior forward Nick Curtis, who also thrived in the defense-first mentality with 11 points, six rebounds and a steal in 35 minutes. “It’s a lot of motion stuff, and that’s how we like to play anyway.”

The Trojans also utilized a full-court press for much of the game, forcing 18 turnovers and getting 10 steals. They shot 54.1% from the field, their best showing in more than two seasons.

The Trojans and Toreros were tied, 55-55, with 13 minutes left before USC went on a 15-3 run over the next six minutes to essentially put the game away. USC never trailed.

“This game was for the taking and we didn’t step up and grab it,” San Diego Coach Brad Holland said. “That’s pure and simple.”

Almost as simple as the Trojans’ winning game plan.

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Junior point guard Dwayne Shackleford, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in October but has played in four games, is contemplating applying for a medical redshirt as his knee has been progressively bothersome.