University Southern California Trojans
Men's Basketball Squad Falls to California
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
January 16, 1999
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Geno Carlisle came off the bench to score 20 points Saturday as California, playing with a revamped starting lineup, snapped out of a brief slump by beating Southern California 89-75.
The Golden Bears (11-4, 2-3 Pac-10) had lost their previous two games and three of four since upsetting No. 9 North Carolina on Dec. 29.
In the wake of his team's lacklustre performance Thursday night in a 72-61 loss at No. 10 UCLA, Cal coach Ben Braun opted to bench Carlisle, the Bears' top scorer, and leading rebounder Sean Lampley to start the game.
Cal also played without starting center Francisco Elson, who suffered a concussion against UCLA.
Carlisle, who sat out the first 4:20 of play, scored nine points in his first 6 1/2 minutes of action before adding another 11 in the second half. Lampley, who entered with 6:20 gone, scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half.
In addition, Carl Boyd and Michael Gill each scored 17 points and Thomas Kilgore added 15 for the Bears. Boyd's total was a career-high and Gill came within one point of his career-high.
Quincy Wilder led the Trojans (10-5, 2-4), who have lost three straight games and four of their last five, with a career-high 18 points. Greg Lakey added a career-high 17 points and Brian Scalabrine scored 14 for USC.
Carlisle's 3-point shot with 14:21 remaining capped an 18-6 run by the Bears to start the second half that gave them a 53-38 lead - largest in the game for either team at that stage.
The Trojans weren't closer than nine points after that. The Bears led by as many as 20.
Cal led at halftime 35-32 thanks to consecutive baskets by Boyd, Lampley and Kilgore in the final 63 seconds of the half.
Carlisle, who averaged a team-high 17.8 points as a starter in Cal's previous 14 games, made just 3-of-15 shots and scored 14 points at UCLA. Lampley, averaging 12.4 points and 9.8 rebounds, was 3-of-10 while scoring nine points against the Bruins.
Solomon Hughes and Dennis Gates, a pair of freshmen, made their first career starts for Cal, but neither played significant roles.
By JOHN NADEL
AP Sports Writer
