Jan. 22, 2005
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Chris Hernandez scored 18 of his 20 points in the secondhalf and Dan Grunfeld also had 20 to lead Stanford past Southern California78-70 on Saturday for its fourth straight victory.
Stanford, coming off 75-64 win at UCLA on Thursday, has won eight of 11after dropping its first three conference games. The Cardinal have won the lastthree meetings with USC, five of the last six, and will have a chance to eventhe all-time series at 113 wins apiece when they host the Trojans on Feb. 17.
Matt Haryasz added 18 points for Stanford (10-7, 4-3 Pac-10), offsetting acareer-high 23 points by USC freshman guard Gabriel Pruitt.
USC (9-10, 2-6 Pac-10) made only one field goal during a 5-minute span downthe stretch as Stanford pulled out to a 72-62 lead with 1:14 left. Hernandezignited an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer that put the Cardinal ahead to stay with5:24 left, then added eight free throws in the final 2:03.
The lead changed hands seven times over a 4:18 span before USC ran off sevenstraight points to pull ahead 52-46 with 12:04 to play. But Haryasz respondedwith a dunk and a 16-footer, starting an 8-0 run that put Stanford back infront 54-52 with 9:36 left.
Grunfeld scored 12 of Stanford's first 17 points - including a 3-pointer andtwo free throws in a 16-5 USC run. Pruitt helped fuel the Trojans' rally with apair of 3-pointers, and Rory O'Neil capped it with a 17-footer that gave them a23-17 lead with 6:24 left in the first half.
The Trojans never trailed by more than three points over the first 11minutes, but didn't take their first lead until Pruitt's 3-pointer put themahead 15-12 with 8:59 left in the half. USC's reserves outscored their Stanfordcounterparts 16-0 in the half and 34-3 overall.