USC
Stanford
Trojans Drop Tight Contest At Stanford, 79-76
February 13, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Features
KZ Okpala scored 18 points to lead the Cardinal (13-11, 6-6 Pac-12), who have won four of its last five. Marcus Sheffield came off the bench and scored 16 points. Josh Sharma added 14 points and had nine rebounds.
Bennie Boatwright scored 19 points to lead the Trojans (13-12, 6-6), who lost at Stanford for a fifth straight time. Nick Rakocevic scored 15 points and had 11 rebounds.
Wills hit a layup with 14 seconds remaining to put Stanford ahead 77-76. He missed an ensuing free throw and USC called time to step up a play.
Boatwright missed a jumper and Wills grabbed the rebound.
Marcus Sheffield hit a 3-pointer to bring the Cardinal within 76-75 and Sharma made a key steal at the other end.
Stanford took its first lead of the game with 12:02 remaining to play when Sharma sank a short jumper for a 52-51 advantage.
Seven lead changes and four ties later, USC took a 74-72 lead on a short jumper Derryck Duncan.
Kevin Porter Jr. scored 10 points in the early going and the Trojans took a 40-35 lead into halftime.
BIG PICTURE
Until its victory at Washington State 11 days ago, USC was on a six-game losing streak away from the Galen Center. … Jonah Mathews had his streak of 28 games with at least one 3-pointer snapped in his last game. He hit the first two he took on Wednesday. … USC lost for the first time when leading at the five-minute mark.
UP NEXT
USC plays at California on Saturday.
