USC
Stanford *
Stanford Trips Up Trojans
January 25, 2003 | Men's Basketball
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Julius Barnes scored 27 points, one short of his career high, as Stanford pulled away from USC in the final minutes for an 80-72 victory Saturday.
Josh Childress had his sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as the Cardinal (14-5, 5-2 in the Pac-10) beat the Trojans for the first time in four games. Matt Lottich added 22 points, one off his career high.
Desmon Farmer scored 23 points to lead USC (7-8, 3-4), which has lost four of its last five. Rory O'Neil added 14.
Stanford entered the game as the Pac-10's worst free throw shooting team but responded with a 16-of-18 effort in the final five minutes.
Stanford's Justin Davis, the Pac-10's leading rebounder, returned to action after missing the past five games with a sprained left knee.
The late run was fueled by pinpoint accuracy from the foul line and snapped a 62-62 tie to give the Cardinal their fifth win in six games. Barnes was 10-of-10 from the free throw line over the final 11:18 and established a Maples Pavilion record by making all 13 of his foul shots.
Tempers flared early in the second half after USC's Nick Curtis fouled Stanford's Rob Little less than three minutes into the second half. Little pushed Curtis and the two had to be separated. Both players were assessed a technical foul, and both eventually fouled out.
The Cardinal made 10 of their first 14 shots; a direct contrast to Thursday's 52-51 victory over UCLA when they missed nine of their first 12 attempts.
Barnes, who was 2-of-8 from the field in Thursday's game, connected on five of his first six shots with a variety of 3-pointers, driving layups and slam dunks. His effort sparked an 11-0 run and helped Stanford open a 25-14 lead with 11:37 left in the first half.
USC rallied the rest of the way and pulled within 40-33 by halftime.
