Box Score | Photo Gallery | AP Photo Gallery
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Jio Fontan scored 15 points and USC survived a late rally by Stanford to win 65-64 on Thursday night.
Dewayne Dedmon added 13 points and eight rebounds and J.T. Terrell had 12 points for the Trojans (12-13, 7-5 Pac-12), who have won four in a row. USC had lost nine of its previous 10 games at Maples Pavilion.
USC also swept the season series, having beaten Stanford 71-69 on Jan. 3 in Los Angeles.
Josh Huestis led the Cardinal (15-10, 6-6) with a career-high 22 points. Chasson Randle scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, but missed a 3 attempt at the buzzer for Stanford.
Dwight Powell finished with a career-high 17 rebounds. The last Cardinal player to grab at least 15 rebounds was Brook Lopez, who tallied 15 against Arizona back on Mar. 13, 2008.
Stanford shot 44.3 percent compared to USC's 41.5 percent clip. However, the Cardinal was just 6-21 from three-point territory and 4-12 from the foul line. The Trojans were 18-23 from the charity stripe.
- - - - - - - - - -
NOTES: Josh Huestis became the fourth Stanford player to reach the 20-point plateau this year, finishing with a career-high 22 points on 10-13 shooting. Huestis chipped in with two blocks, passing Brook Lopez and moving into sixth place in school history with 103 for his career ... Dwight Powell notched his eighth double-double and fourth in the last five games. Powell, who is now averaging 15.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, is looking to become the fourth player in school history to average at least 15.0 points and 8.0 boards ... After a scoreless first half, Chasson Randle finished with 16 points, 12 of which came off three-pointers ... Stanford entered the game ranked 39th in the country in free throw shooting at 73.8 percent. However, the Cardinal was just 4-12 overall and 0-2 over the first 20 minutes ... The Cardinal entered the night connecting on a league-best 45.1 percent from three-point territory but was just 6-21 on Thursday ... Stanford hosts UCLA on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN2).
- - - - - - - - - -
Head coach Johnny Dawkins
"I thought USC came in and played very well. They got off to a good start and played that way throughout the game. At the end of the first half, foul trouble hurt us. We didn't close the half out as well as we would have liked with Josh and Chasson on the bench. That allowed them to go on a mini-run to end the half. In the second half, I thought our kids came out and fought. We clawed back into the game. We had a shot at the end to try to win the game - two shots - the drive that ended up being blocked out of bounds and then Chasson in the corner. Really just a tough, tough game for us. Give them credit, they made big plays when they had to."
"The play was to get the ball to Chasson. Unfortunately, Fontan did a really good job of denying him the basketball. So when that option went away from us, Aaron decided to look elsewhere. He couldn't get it to Dwight, so he drove into traffic and they swallowed him up."
"We had good practices leading up to tonight, so I was excited about what we had the potential to do. We just didn't get off to a good start. We had some good looks at the basket early, several opportunities to finish. We just didn't finish the play. Those are momentum changes. When you're in those positions and you don't complete the play, it gives the other team life because they know they've escaped."
"They all hurt to me. Any loss hurts. We've had a lot of close losses and a lot of close wins. We're now in a position where we have to keep competing. I know our kids will be ready to go on Saturday. It's an unfortunate loss for us, but we still have six conference games to go and we have to pick our heads up and be ready for Saturday."
Junior forward Josh Huestis
"Obviously, both losses (to USC) hurt. This one is really painful just because they came out and played better than us. They were the better team tonight. In the first half, they came out ready for a fight, and we didn't. We just have to take what we can learn from this and get ready for Saturday."
"They almost doubled how many free throws we took in the game. That shows they were more aggressive than us. As far as us making free throws, that's something really uncharacteristic of us. We've been shooting the ball really well. Guys that usually knock them down weren't able to hit tonight. We just have to get back in the gym, try to get shots up and try to get better. It shouldn't happen again."
"We've been playing well; everything has been going well for us. Practices have been going well. Tonight, we just didn't come to play. We were feeling good after playing well for the past couple games, but obviously we have a lot more work to do.
"My role is to go out and take my open shots. I was able to get open to shoot and they started falling for me. So I continued to shoot and they kept going. It wasn't anything different before the game, just a good night for me."
"We were just going to come down and obviously time was on our side in that situation. We tried to set something up for Chasson (Randle) to come off, and they were able to break it up a little bit. So we had to go out under the basket. They played good defense and came out."
USC Interim Head Coach Bob Cantu
"Getting the lead in the first half gave us confidence. We knew at some point Stanford was going to make a run, so you've got to withstand that. Our guys didn't give up. They stayed the course, they stayed focused the entire game, all the way to the end. They defended, and that's what it takes."
"We played a lot out of screen and roll, and Jio (Fontan) was really good with it. He was 9-9 from the free throw line. Jio has been absolutely tremendous. He's the one who gets us going and keeps his poise on defense."
"At the end, we were just trying to guard. We were trying to push up without fouling. We just wanted to do a good job on whatever shot they took and make sure it was contested. The clock kept ticking and we were fortunate."
"We were 18-23 from the foul line, which is tremendous on the road. We took care of the basketball and only had 12 turnovers.That's huge. We're playing with confidence and in an attack mode."