January 14, 1999
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Now that Stanford has survived a game that its coach saidscared him coming in, the fourth-ranked Cardinal can focus on UCLA.
"UCLA probably has the best young players in the Pac-10. They're verydangerous," Mark Madsen said moments after his 17 points and 10 rebounds ledStanford past Southern California 72-55 Thursday night. "We're extremely waryof their front line, we're concerned about the matchups."
Perhaps it's UCLA that should be wary when the teams meet Saturday night atPauley Pavilion.
Stanford's defense limited USC to 29.6 percent shooting - its worst of theseason - and the Cardinal outrebounded the Trojans 47-33.
In addition, the Cardinal (14-2, 4-0 Pac-10) have won their last 10 games.
USC's Brian Scalabrine, who Madsen called one of the best big men in theconference, was limited to 16 minutes due to foul problems and had just eightpoints and two rebounds when he fouled out with 11:06 left.
By that time, the Cardinal had the game well in hand with a 57-34 lead.
"They manhandled us," USC coach Henry Bibby said. "They executed betterthan we did, they rebounded better than we did, and they ran better than wedid."
It didn't start out that way. Stanford looked awfully ragged in the firstfive minutes, falling behind 8-2.
Then, with reserve Jarron Collins providing the spark, the Cardinaloutscored the Trojans 11-2 in a span of 2 1/2 minutes to go ahead 13-10. Averaging5.7 points, Collins scored six in the spurt.
"They were getting to loose balls," Madsen said of the Trojans. "JarronCollins came in and gave us the momentum we needed to get the game undercontrol. Jarron decided he was going to attack them."
After USC took its last lead at 14-13 on a 3-pointer by Elias Ayuso with11:07 left in the first half, the Trojans really went cold, and were outscored21-10 the remainder of the half.
Collins, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from nearby North Hollywood, finished withcareer-high totals of 13 points and 12 rebounds. He had 11 points and sixrebounds in the opening 20 minutes to lead Stanford to a 34-24 lead.
The Cardinal clinched the victory by scoring 10 straight points in a1 1/2-minute span early in the second half to make it 51-30 with 14:53 remaining.The Trojans weren't closer than 15 points after that.
"I think we played good defensively," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said."Of course, USC was hurt by losing Brian Scalabrine to foul trouble. Itallowed us to focus on their shooters.
"This game scared me. You don't know what to expect down here at 5 p.m.(when the game started) or how the kids will react. USC is a good team. You sawthat when they beat Oregon (last week). It's good to get a win here."
Collins said there were at least 20 family members and friends among theseason-high crowd of 5,627 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena to cheer him on. Hedidn't disappoint.
"They really gave me a lift," he admitted. "To have them here and theirsupport was really nice. I played well, yes, (but) it's more important to getthe win.
"Now I'm looking forward to playing at Pauley Pavilion. The important thingis to win."
Montgomery said that Collins, who played 23 minutes, "was tremendous."
"He really got active and got the boards," Montgomery said. "We were kindof dead in the water to begin with, and he came in and got us going."
Ayuso led the Trojans (10-4, 2-3) with 15 points. No other USC player scoredmore than eight.
"I was impressed how solid they were," Scalabrine said of Stanford. "Theydidn't gamble on defense, they didn't try to make a big play. They all playedhard. And they were great on offensive rebounds.
"They were bigger at every position that we are. We have to work harder."