Trojans collapse, get blown out at 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
STANFORD >> THE SCORE
STANFORD 99, USC 68
Up next: Utah at USC, Thursday, 8 p.m., FS1
SUMMARY
USC (9-15)
Iwuchukwu 3-5 0-2 6, Rodman 2-6 0-0 4, Collier 4-8 8-15 18, Ellis 3-11 0-0 7, James 2-7 1-2 6, Johnson 3-6 0-0 7, Wright 4-4
1-1 9, Page 3-5 0-0 6, Hornery 2-3 0-0 5, Sellers 0-3 0-1 0, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 10-21 68.
STANFORD (12-11)
Angel 2-7 1-2 5, S.Jones 5-7 0-0 15, Raynaud 10-11 3-4 25, Carlyle 3-11 2-2
10, M.Jones 2-6 0-0 5, Stojakovic 8-12
0-0 20, Gealer 4-7 2-2 14, Keefe 1-2 0-0 2, Gil-Silva 0-0 0-0 0, Yuan 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 36-64 8-10 99.
Stanford 55-26;
Southern Cal 6-20 (Collier 2-3, Johnson 1-1, Hornery 1-2, James 1-3, Ellis 1-6, Iwuchukwu 0-1, Page 0-1, Sellers 0-1, Rodman 0-2), Stanford 19-38 (S.Jones 5-7, Gealer 4-6, Stojakovic 4-7, Raynaud 2-2, Carlyle 2-9, Yuan 1-1, M.Jones 1-5, Angel 0-1); USC 23 (Collier, Johnson, Wright 4), Stanford 39 (Raynaud 9); USC 13 (Ellis 4), Stanford 23 (Raynaud 5); USC 12, Stanford 13.
Halftime:
Rebounds:
Assists:
3-Point Goals:
Total Fouls:
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.