Trojans collapse, get blown out at Stanford
STANFORD » The apocalypse hit at Stanford's Maples Pavilion on Saturday night, the end of times dawning, leaving USC's bench shell- shocked and beaten weary as the Trojans' program crumbled before the eyes of thousands.
This was a group that fought, Andy Enfield said in the back corridors of Cal's Haas Pavilion after a grueling overtime loss Wednesday night. They were flawed, yes. But they played with heart, rarely letting games slip away, battling to the bitter end against a ruthless crowd at Cal, frustrated in the locker room after the eventual loss. They cared. I think they're going to come out Saturday, Enfield said on Wednesday, and play as hard as they can.
USC came out Saturday and collapsed.
They caved, completely, within just a few minutes of a 99-68 evisceration by Stanford, walking into Maples and watching helplessly as cardinal-red hearts were snatched with every cold-blooded triple from an array of Cardinals.
No downhill drives by freshman Isaiah Collier
Up next: or shot-making by senior Boogie Ellis or tinkering by head coach Andy Enfield could save them; the loss was written in drooped shoulders, in exasperated hand-wringing by assistant coaches and barking amid players by the end of the first half, sinking amid a 25-0 run that stood as the lowest point in a season of low points.
It was an amalgamation, really, of USC's fatal flaws, all combining to crumble what little hope remained at an end-of-season run through the Pac12. All season long, Trojan ball-handlers had struggled with turnovers; they combined for 10 in the first half, Collier flinging one head-scratching pass off the scorer's table in a miscommunication.
All season long, Trojan bigs had struggled to grab rebounds; Kijani Wright led the contingent with a whopping four against Stanford, dominated again on the glass for second-chance Cardinal buckets. All season long, Trojan shooters had struggled with freethrows; they went just 2 of 8 from the line and 10 for 21 on the game, dipping their season mark below 70%. All season long, Trojan defenders had struggled with closing out to shooters; too many perimeter guards helped in the lane and were late to contest threes on Saturday, leading to a Stanford-program-record 19 made threes.
Collier finished with 18 points, but shot just 8 of 15 from the free throw line. Stanford's Maxime Raynaud scored 25 on 10-of-11 shooting, while freshman Andrej Stojakovic dropped 20 points.
THE SCORE STANFORD 99, USC 68 Utah at USC, Thursday, 8 p.m., FS1
TEXAS A&M 85, NO. 6 TENNESSEE 69 » Tyrece Radford had 27 points and Wade Taylor IV added 25 as the host Aggies (15-8, 6-4 Southeastern) never trailed against the Volunteers (17-6, 7-3).
MICHIGAN STATE 88, NO. 10 ILLINOIS 80 » A.J. Hoggard had 23 points to lead the Spartans (15-9, 7-6 Big Ten) over the visiting Illini (17-6, 8-4). The Spartans rallied from an eight-point deficit over the last six-plus minutes. Malik Hall had 22 points and Tyson Walker scored 19.
FLORIDA 81, NO. 12 AUBURN 65 » Riley Kugel scored 22 points, Walter Clayton Jr. added 20 and the host Gators (16-7, 6-4 Southeastern) upset the Tigers (19-5, 8-3) to put themselves in position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years.
NO. 1 CONNECTICUT 89, GEORGETOWN 64 » UConn (22-2, 12-1 Big East) was never challenged on the way to its 12th consecutive victory, leading by 26 in the first half while beating the Hoyas (8-15, 1-22) behind Alex Karaban's 25 points in Washington.
NO. 2 PURDUE 79, INDIANA 59 » Zach Edey had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Braden Smith scored 19 points to lead the host Boilermakers (22-2, 11-2 Big Ten) past the Hoosiers (14-10, 6-7).
NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA 75, MIAMI 72 » RJ Davis scored 25 points and the Tar Heels (19-5, 11-2 Atlantic Coast) held off Miami (15-9, 6-7) in Coral Gables, Fla.
NO. 4 KANSAS 64, NO. 13 BAYLOR 61 » Hunter Dickinson scored 15 points to lead a balanced attack as the Jayhawks (19-5, 7-4 Big 12) extended their home winning streak to 18 games by beating the Bears (17-6, 6-4).
NO. 5 HOUSTON 67, CINCINNATI 62 » J'Wan Roberts scored a game-high 20 points, including a game-sealing dunk with 6 seconds left, as the Cougars (21-3, 8-3 Big 12) outlasted the host Bearcats (15-8, 4-6).
NO. 7 MARQUETTE 86, ST. JOHN'S 75 » Tyler Kolek scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half and also had 13 assists as Marquette (18-5, 9-3 Big East) rallied to beat St. John's (14-10, 6-7) in Milwaukee.
NO. 8 ARIZONA 99, COLORADO 79 » Caleb Love scored 19 points, Pelle Larson had 18 and the Wildcats (19-5, 10-3 Pac 12) pulled away in the second half to hand Colorado (16-8, 7-6) its first home loss of the season.
NO. 9 DUKE 80, BOSTON COLLEGE 65 » Mark Mitchell scored 17 points, Kyle Filipowski and Jeremy Roach each added 16 and the host Blue Devils (18-5, 9-3 Atlantic Coast) beat the visiting Eagles (13-10, 4-8).
NO. 14 IOWA STATE 71, TCU 59 » Tre King scored 15 points and Keshon Gilbert had 13 points and seven assists, helping the Cyclones (18-5, 7-3 Big 12) beat the visiting Horned Frogs (16-7, 5-5)
NO. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA 75, VANDERBILT 60 » Collin Murray-Boyles scored a careerhigh 31 points and the Gamecocks (21-3, 9-2 Southeastern) beat the visiting Commodores (6-17, 1-9) for their 21st victory.
NO. 16 ALABAMA 109, LSU 92 » Mark Sears scored 23 points and the Crimson Tide (177, 9-2 SEC) made deep shots to break open a tight game in the final nine minutes of a win over the host Tigers (12-11, 4-6).
GONZAGA 89, NO. 17 KENTUCKY 85 » Anton Watson scored 17 points, including a goahead three-point play with 3:49 remaining before adding two key layups in the final 91 seconds, Ben Gregg and Nolan Hickman sank key late free throws and the Bulldogs (18-6) survived a secondhalf rally to beat the host Wildcats (16-7).
LONG BEACH STATE 77, CAL POLY 68 » Jadon Jones had 26 points for the Beach (159, 7-5 Big West) at the Pyramid. Cal Poly is 4-21, 0-13.