Trojans do the little thing

Stanford can have its 7-footers. USC is quite content with its Big Three.

Considerably smaller in stature than the Cardinal’s Lopez twins, Lodrick Stewart, Gabe Pruitt and Nick Young came up big at precisely the right moments Thursday night at the Galen Center.

Stewart made several momentum-changing steals, Pruitt took a key charge and Young converted just enough free throws in the final minutes to help USC preserve a 69-65 victory that moved the Trojans into sole possession of third place in the Pacific 10 Conference.

A week after combining for 69 points in a victory over Arizona, the USC trio totaled 55 points as the Trojans avenged a 65-50 loss to Stanford on Jan. 25 at Maples Pavilion. Young finished with 22 points, Stewart had 17 and Pruitt 16.

USC (20-8 overall, 10-5 in the Pac-10) assured itself of a winning record in what is widely considered one of the strongest conferences in the country.

Afterward, Coach Tim Floyd was asked if he felt the Trojans had all but secured their first NCAA tournament berth in five years.

“I believe that, but we’re not going to approach it that way,” said Floyd, whose team could finish no worse than sixth in the conference. “We’ve got to approach it like we need to get another one and another one.”

Before the game, Floyd was addressing his team when there was a loud knock on the locker room door and USC football Coach Pete Carroll entered to offer an impromptu motivational speech.

Carroll whipped the Trojans into a frenzy, telling them about the football team’s 33-game winning streak at the Coliseum that dates to 2001. Freshman forward Taj Gibson said Carroll also told the players, “We’re not going to let them come in here because they’re big and push us around.”

Said Young: “Coach Carroll came in and got us all pumped up. We tried to go out like the football team.”

Sophomore forward RouSean Cromwell, making his first start in nearly three months, energized the crowd early by blocking two shots by Robin Lopez and drawing a pair of fouls on the Cardinal big man, sending him to the bench after only seven first-half minutes.

The twins, who combined for 15 of Stanford’s school-record 19 blocks in the teams’ first meeting this season, didn’t get their first block Thursday until about four minutes into the second half, when Brook Lopez rejected a shot by Cromwell. The twins finished with three blocks, two by Brook.

Brook Lopez had 23 points on 10-for-22 shooting to go with eight rebounds, and Robin Lopez had five points and seven rebounds.

The Trojans countered the Lopez twins with a collective effort that included a nice bounce-back performance by Gibson, who had eight points and eight rebounds after totaling only two points in his previous two games. Gibson’s 234 rebounds this season are a USC freshman record.

Sophomore forward Keith Wilkinson contributed by making a baseline jumper midway through the second half and twice tipping the ball to teammates on missed free throws to keep late possessions alive.

Stanford (17-9, 9-6) hung around until the final seconds after the Trojans built a four-point lead and then missed four of five free throws during one stretch. Cardinal forward Lawrence Hill, who finished with 21 points, made two free throws to cut USC’s lead to 64-61 with 52 seconds to play.

After Young made two free throws to increase USC’s lead to five points, Pruitt drew an offensive foul on guard Landry Fields to pretty much seal the outcome with 39 seconds to go.

Pruitt had eight assists and four rebounds, prompting Floyd to call it the junior guard’s best all-around performance this season.

“Me and Gabe knew we had the tournament on the line tonight,” said Young, the junior swingman who made five of seven free throws in the final 2:59. “It’s a great feeling to get 20-plus wins.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com