University Southern California Trojans
USC, UCLA Battle In Pool On Saturday As Well
November 16, 1999 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 16, 1999
LOS ANGELES - The defending NCAA champion USC men's water polo team (19-4 overall, 6-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for third place) closes out the regular season on Saturday (Nov. 20) with a non-conference match against crosstown rival and No. 1 UCLA (17-2) at the McDonald's Swim Stadium at 10 a.m., 2 1/2 hours before the two schools meet in football. The Trojans and Bruins are tied 1-1 in the season series. USC has earned the No. 3 seed at the MPSF Tournament, held Nov. 26-28 at UC Irvine, and will face sixth-seeded Pacific in the first round.
RANKINGS - USC was ranked No. 3 in the Nov. 10 U.S. Water Polo Top 20 Poll. UCLA was No. 1.
UCLA - USC holds a 37-29-1 record against UCLA (since 1979). This year, the Trojans beat the Bruins in the final of the Nor-Cal Tournament, while UCLA came back with a 7-5 win last weekend that wrapped up the conference title.
LAST WEEKEND - The Trojans lost their chance to force a three-way tie for the conference title when they fell at UCLA, 7-5, on Friday (Nov. 12). Instead, the Bruins captured the crown with a perfect 8-0 record. USC never led, and UCLA went on a 4-1 run to take a 7-4 lead in the fourth quarter. Peter Janov scored two goals for the Trojans. USC rebounded with a 9-6 home win over Long Beach State on Sunday (Nov. 14), as George Csaszar scored three goals.
JOVAN VAVIC - After serving as co-head coach for the last four seasons, Jovan Vavic takes over as head coach in 1999. The last year has been a good one for Vavic, as he helped the USC men to the 1998 NCAA championship, then led the USC women to the 1999 national championship as their head coach. Entering this season, Vavic's record as co-head coach was 89-18 (.832).
RICHARD McEVOY - After earning All-American third team status the last two seasons, Richard McEvoy (Pembroke Pines, FL/Cooper City HS) may very well be the best goalie in the country as a 1999 senior. He has made 211 saves in 1999, 9.2 per game (second in the MPSF), and is allowing just 5.5 points per game (third in the MPSF). He ranks third on USC's career save list with 603. McEvoy made the All-Southern California Tournament second team. He was named MPSF Player of the Week on Nov. 8 after collecting a total of 25 saves against Pepperdine and California.
ALLEN BASSO - One of USC's most veteran players, senior driver Allen Basso (Lake Forest/El Toro HS) is having an impressive season. He has scored 43 points, the best on the team and by far a career high. His average of 1.87 points per game is fourth best in the MPSF. He has connected on a team-high six two-pointers. He made the All-Southern California Tournament first team. He has been named MPSF Player of the Week twice already. The first honor came after scoring five points in the season opener against Long Beach State. The second came after he scored 12 points in four games to help USC to the Nor-Cal Tournament championship. Last season Allen made All-American honorable mention and scored 25 points.
GEORGE CSASZAR - USC's leading scorer in 1998, George Csaszar is having another good year as a 1999 junior driver. A native of Hungary, he is second on USC with 27 points this season. He made the All-Southern California Tournament first team. Last year he made the All-American second team and scored 60 points.
OTHERS - In addition to McEvoy, Csaszar and Basso, the Trojans feature three other All-Americans from a year ago ... Senior 2-meter man James Castle (Hacienda Heights/Wilson HS), an All-American second teamer in 1998, was slowed by injury to start the 1999 season. But he has rebounded to score 23 points ... Senior 2-meter man Peter Janov (Bratislava, Slovakia) is considered USC's ironman because of the tremendous amount of minutes that he plays. An All-American honorable mention last season, he has scored 24 points this season ... Sophomore utility player Ivan Babic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is another standout who also made All-American honorable mention last season. He has 26 points in 1999.
LAST SEASON - The Trojans captured the 1998 NCAA championship by beating Stanford, 9-8, in overtime in the title game. USC finally won an elusive championship after finishing second six times, including four of the previous five years. Marko Pintaric, who hit the game-winning two-pointer against Stanford, was named the NCAA Player of the Year. The Trojans finished with a school-record 25-3 mark.
