University Southern California Trojans
Men's Water Polo Hosts Pepperdine, Cal
November 02, 1999 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 2, 1999
LOS ANGELES - The defending NCAA champion USC men's water polo team (16-3 overall, 4-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for third place) plays four of its final five regular-season matches at home at the McDonald's Swim Stadium, including two this weekend. The Trojans host Pepperdine (8-10, 2-4) on Saturday (Nov. 6) at 10 a.m. in an MPSF match and California (8-9, 2-4 - plays UC Irvine on Saturday) on Sunday (Nov. 7) at noon in a non-conference contest.
RANKINGS - USC was ranked No. 3 in the Oct. 27 U.S. Water Polo Top 20 Poll. Pepperdine was No. 7 and California was No. 4.
OPPONENTS - USC leads the series with Pepperdine, 35-15-1 (since 1979) and is 1-0 against the Waves in 1999 ... California leads the series with USC, 43-25-2 (since 1979), though USC has won six straight, including a 7-5 victory in Berkeley last weekend.
LAST WEEKEND - The Trojans earned a 7-5 MPSF victory against host California on Saturday (Oct. 30). Seven different players scored goals and Richard McEvoy made nine saves. But on Sunday, USC lost to Stanford for the third time in four matchups, as the No. 1 Cardinal earned a 7-5 win in Palo Alto. Allen Basso and Peter Janov each scored two goals, but Stanford broke a 5-5 tie with a two-pointer with 1:16 left.
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 170 saves in 1999, 8.9 per game (second in the MPSF), and is allowing just 5.6 points per game (third in the MPSF). He ranks fourth on USC's career save list with 562. McEvoy made the All-Southern California Tournament second team.
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 40 points, a career high, the best on the team and nearly twice as many as the team's No. 2 scorer. He is averaging 2.11 points per game, second 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 21 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 18 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 18 points this season ... Sophomore utility player Ivan Babic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is another standout who also made All-American honorable mention last season. He has 17 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.
