Feb. 19, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- Nikola Vucevic scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Alex Stepheson added 15 points Saturday night, leading USC to a 69-53 victory over Stanford.
Donte Smith had 13 points, while Maurice Jones came off the bench for the second time this season and scored 10 for the Trojans (15-12, 7-7 Pac-10), who beat Stanford at Maples Pavilion for the first time since Feb. 21, 2002, and swept their regular-season series.
Josh Owens scored a team-high 13 points, while Josh Huestis added a career-high 11 for Stanford (13-13, 6-9). Dwight Powell grabbed 10 rebounds.
USC shot 53.2 percent overall, including a 59.3 percent clip in the first half to take a 40-31 lead at intermission.
The Trojans were 8-14 from long range while the Cardinal was just 3-17.
Stanford held a 37-32 rebounding edge.
The Trojans and Cardinal are both fighting to finish among the top six teams in the Pac-10 and escape a play-in game for the conference tournament. USC moved into a tie for fourth place with Oregon, while Stanford fell to eighth.
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NOTES: Prior to USC's 69-53 win, the Stanford-USC series was the only Pac-10 matchup in which the home team had won 12 straight regular season games (dating back to the second of the two Stanford-USC regular season games in 2004-05) ... Dwight Powell finished with 10 rebounds in a game for the third time this year ... Making his first career start after appearing off the bench in 14 games, John Gage totaled six points on 2-8 shooting with two rebounds in 18 minutes ... The Cardinal made just 6-30 attempts during the second half, scoring 22 points over the final 20 minutes ... Stanford has now made at least one three-pointer in 313 consecutive games, dating back to an 0-6 performance against Purdue in the John Wooden Tradition on Nov. 24, 2001 ... Nikola Vucevic's 14 rebounds were the most for an opposing player since Mar. 11, 2010, when Arizona State's Eric Boateng grabbed 15.
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Head coach Johnny Dawkins:
On tonight's game:
"I thought we started off the first half well, to be quite frank. They're a good team. They get after you defensively and are really, really quick. I think as they started to wear us down a bit, it took a toll on us. We only had 11 turnovers. The main thing for us was the quality of shots that we were getting. They did a good job of not allowing us much. Offensively, they did a good job of executing. It was a tough shooting night for all our guys tonight. When that happens, you have to find other ways to win. You have to get to the free throw line, you have to get to the basket, you have to make plays in other ways, and that's where our maturity has to be. Basically, we have to get better as a team. I think that it showed tonight, and I think that it was good for our players to see that. It's all about improving from here on out, both individually and collectively."
On matching up against USC:
"I don't think it was not matching up well with them. It was their quickness and penetration that hurt us. It broke us down. They were able to get into the lane, make plays, make high percentage shots. That's where we broke down, defensively. We could never consistently stop them, from attacking the basket to making plays."
On the play of the freshmen:
"I think they've played like freshmen. You want them to play older, you want them to play like a sophomore or a junior with the consistency that kids have at that age. But they're not that age. I'd like to see them have more consistency in their play. Dwight [Powell], for instance, will have nights where he's amazing, and he'll have nights like tonight where it's a little more difficult. As you get older as a player, you start to get a little better, you start to round those things out more in the middle, not as many highs and lows. I think that's where we're at right now. But you need to turn that potential into achievements, and the only way you can do that is consistency of good play."
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Freshman Josh Huestis:
On making contributions:
"Jeremy [Green] is such a scoring threat that guys are going to focus on him. He's a focal point of defenses every single game. No matter where he goes, he's got someone on him. When that happens, it leaves gaps open, so guys have to take advantage of that. I tried to find holes in the defense, things like that, when they tried to throw two guys at Jeremy, the matchups went in our favor. It was just tough. It was a rough shooting night for everybody. We just have to get back into the gym and get better."
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USC Head coach Kevin O'Neill:
On defending Jeremy Green:
"Marcus (Simmons) is a great single-minded defender when he gets his one assignment, and you tell him, "Stop that guy." He's going to die trying to do it. He's done a good job with Jeremy both games. If you don't do a good job on him, especially here (at Maples Pavilion), you're going to lose the game."
On his defense:
"We're good defensively -- we're not great. We're getting better. We've started to turn the corner the last two weeks a little bit. In order for us to win, because we don't score very well, we have to be aggressive defensively, and I thought our guys really did a good job in trying to take them out of what they wanted to do.
On Stanford:
"That's a very, very good young team. And that team in the next couple of years is going to be a big-time problem for the rest of the league."