Jan. 6, 2010
STANFORD, Calif.- Jarrett Mann made the second of two free throw attempts with 10.6 seconds left and Stanford stopped several last-second chances on the defensive end to beat embattled USC 54-53 on Wednesday night and snap the Trojans' eight-game winning streak.
Jeremy Green added a team-high 17 points for Stanford (7-7, 1-1 Pac-10), which bounced back from a 92-66 loss at rival California on Saturday to open conference play. Landry Fields chipped in with 14 points, eight boards and five assists, but saw his string of nine consecutive 20-point games come to an end.
Dwight Lewis scored a game-high 22 points for USC (10-5, 2-1 Pac-10), which took the court three days after learning from first-year head coach Kevin O'Neill that the university had imposed sanctions on the program for recruiting violations involving former player O.J. Mayo. That includes a ban on postseason play this year and the Pac-10 Tournament. Mayo allegedly received improper cash and gifts while at USC.
"For me the news had nothing to do with this game," O'Neill said. "It's unfathomable to me that we'd play like we did in the first half. For the first time all year I thought we had a total lack of effort in the first half."
Instead, Stanford looked impressive early, holding an 11-3 lead after five minutes and stretching it to double-figures at 23-13 following a jumper from Fields at the 6:29 mark.
"It was very important. It was a tough loss for us at Cal," Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "It's nice to win it on the final possession. We've had some tough ones."
Marcus Johnson's baseline jumper with 4:24 to play cut Stanford's lead to 47-43, but Green knocked down a three-pointer from the baseline on the other end moments later. Mike Gerrity hit a triple with 2:29 left to get USC within 50-46 and keep it interesting until the end.
Lewis scored with 45.1 seconds left on a long jumper and Zimmermann missed his third and fourth straight free throws in the final 1:10 to give USC another chance. Leonard Washington banked in a three-pointer to tie the game with 32.6 seconds on the clock. Stanford called timeout with 26.8 seconds to play.
Washington quickly fouled Mann, who missed his first free throw before making the second. Gerrity missed a shot with three seconds left and Nikola Vucevic grabbed the offensive rebound and missed the putback.
Washington was in the scrum at the end and he lay on the ground afterward for several minutes, clearly shocked.
Green scored five of his points over the final 3:48 and Andrew Zimmermann added 10 points for the Cardinal, which has won eight straight against USC at home dating to a 77-58 loss on Feb. 21, 2003.
The Trojans have held opponents to 56 or fewer points in their last nine games. But this time, neither team shined and Stanford made more key plays in crunch time. The Cardinal held a 32-28 rebounding advantage and shot 45.8 percent.
USC came out sluggish and sloppy, missing four of its first five field-goal tries- three from close range- and committing two turnovers in the opening minutes.
Stanford hit five of its first seven shots to take an 11-3 lead, but Fields started 1-5.
Averaging 23.2 points per game coming in, Fields was held to a season-low 14 points on 5-14 shooting against a tough USC defense. But he was happy to have some help from his teammates.
"I thought, 'We're not losing this game, not this time,'" Fields said. "Our bigs really stepped up tonight. They played with poise and energy."
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NOTES: Tonight was the first one-point victory for Stanford under head coach Johnny Dawkins and first since an 82-81 overtime win over Marquette in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament ... USC had not lost since a 79-53 setback at Georgia Tech on Dec. 5 ... Jeremy Green has scored in double-figures in 12 straight games ... For the first time since Nov. 18 against Oral Roberts (a streak of 10 consecutive games), Stanford lost the opening tip ... The last time Stanford scored 55 points or less and won a game was Jan. 5, 2008, when the Cardinal edged USC at Maples Pavilion 52-46 ... Andrew Zimmermann reached double-figures in scoring (10 points) for the fourth time this year ... The halftime margin has been five points or less in nine of Stanford's 14 games this year ... A moment of silence was held prior to tipoff in memory of 12th-year USC radio play-by-play announcer Rory Markas, who died Monday at age 54 ... Stanford hosts UCLA on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 3 p.m. in a game televised by Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.