University Southern California Trojans
USC
Stanford
USC Blasts Stanford, 103-78
March 07, 2002 | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2002
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES - As if Southern California wasn't playing well enough already, its backups came in and didn't let up.
Playing at a frenetic pace, the 22nd-ranked Trojans built a 23-point lead in the first half and never looked back, beating No. 16 Stanford 103-78 Thursday night in the first round of the Pacific-10 tournament.
"It's probably one of the best offensive games we've played all year," USC coach Henry Bibby said. "We were making shots and everything was working offensively for us."
The Trojans shot 55 percent from the floor and 76 percent from the foul line.
It was USC's third victory over the Cardinal (19-9) this season. The Trojans won the first meeting by eight points in Los Angeles, then won the second by 19 points in Stanford's worst loss at home since 1993.
"We made shots in all three games we played them," Bibby said. "We created situations that put a lot of pressure on them and forced them to make decisions."
Sam Clancy led five USC players in double figures with 25 points. He was voted the Pac-10 player of the year Wednesday.
Brandon Granville added 20 points and 11 assists, reserve Desmon Farmer 19 points, David Bluthenthal 17 points, and reserve Jerry Dupree 10 points.
After USC starting guard Errick Craven got in foul trouble in the first half, the Trojans didn't miss a beat. Dupree came in and scored eight points in 12 minutes. Farmer also came off the bench to score 10 points in 12 minutes.
"The bench came in and really set the tone," Clancy said. "That's the type of effort we're going to need from them the rest of the tournament. It's fun to see guys come off the bench and get in the flow, both offensively and defensively."
The fourth-seeded Trojans (21-8) will play top-seeded Oregon in Friday's semifinals at Staples Center. The Ducks (23-7) defeated eighth-seeded Washington 86-64 earlier Thursday.
The Ducks swept USC this season, including a 67-65 victory on a last-second runner by Frederick Jones last Saturday in Los Angeles.
"Oregon stole two from us and we're coming to get one back," Clancy said.
Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt each scored 17 points to lead fifth-seeded Stanford, which added to its history of blowout losses in the tournament.
Before the tournament took a 12-year break in 1990, Stanford lost to Arizona by 22 points in the 1989 final, and by 24 points to Arizona in the 1990 semifinals.
USC's 25-point victory was one shy of the tournament record for largest winning margin, set by Arizona in a 93-67 win over Oregon in 1988.
"We had no answers for SC. They were the aggressor, physical, quick," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. "They're the better team and I don't think there's any question about that."
Stanford shot 38 percent and committed 19 turnovers in the game.
"They were everywhere on offense and defense," Borchardt said. "They weren't just more aggressive, they were the better team."
Borchardt, the 7-footer who led the conference in rebounding and shot blocking, had 14 rebounds as Stanford controlled the boards, 51-31.
Jacobsen, the Pac-10's leading scorer with a 22.2-point average, got his third foul with 10:55 remaining. His only 3-pointer didn't come until there was 5:54 to go.
The teams were tied four times in the opening 14 minutes before USC broke the game open by shooting 67 percent in the first half. The Trojans outscored the Cardinal 31-9 to take a 45-23 lead with 3:43 remaining.
USC hit four of its seven 3-pointers in the spurt, including two by Bluthenthal, who had nine points in the run. Stanford struggled on 38 percent shooting in the half, when Jacobsen was just 3-of-9 from the floor.
"We had a lot of open shots in the first half that we didn't make," Montgomery said. "It gets old, it gets tiring. It wears you down mentally. SC's tempo bothers us. It speeds us up and gets us out of sorts."
After trailing 52-35 at the break, Stanford never got closer than 13 points in the second half. Clancy scored USC's first seven points of the half, and the Trojans spent much of the final 20 minutes at the foul line.
Leading 65-51, USC ran off 13 consecutive points to take a 78-51 lead with 10:02 remaining. Except for Bluthenthal's 3-pointer, all the Trojans' points came at the free-throw line. Granville went 4-for-4, and Farmer 3-for-4.
"It's disappointing," Montgomery said. "I thought we could compete better than that, but once we get back on our heels we have a tough time coming back."
