USC
Stanford
Trojans Nearly Topple Top-Ranked Cardinal
March 01, 2001 | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2001
By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Casey Jacobsen, his left eye puffy from a blow late in the game, was smiling - and relieved.
Jacobsen scored 22 points, including an important layup and free throw in the closing minutes, as top-ranked Stanford blew most of a 16-point lead before holding on for a 70-68 victory Thursday night over USC.
Stanford (26-1) remained atop the Pac-10 with a 14-1 mark. USC (18-9, 8-7) lost for the fifth time in its last eight games.
Brandon Granville threw up an air ball for the Trojans as time ran out, keeping USC winless against No. 1 teams dating back to a victory over UCLA 31 years ago.
Jacobsen was poked in the eye by the Trojans' Sam Clancy as the Stanford star made a driving layup with 1:32 left.
No foul was called, but Jacobsen sprawled on the court for several moments and Cardinal coach Mike Montgomery hastily called a timeout so USC wouldn't have a 5-on-4 advantage.
"It's all right now," Jacobsen said of his red eye. "Clancy got his finger right in there and it really hurt. But I'm all right, especially with the win."
Montgomery said: "Not only did we not get the foul, but I called a time out more vociferously than I usually do. They were going to break downcourt 5-on-4, and at that point, we couldn't afford it."
The Trojans trailed 41-34 at halftime and were behind by as much as 53-37 early in the second half before rallying to close to 65-62 with 1:52 remaining.
Ryan Mendez, who had 16 points for the Cardinal, provided the difference when he made both free throws on a 1-and-1 for a 70-66 lead with 13.8 seconds remaining.
Clancy scored on a dunk for USC with 7.2 seconds left, then Jacobsen missed the first of a 1-and-1 with 6.3 seconds left. The Trojans brought the ball up but could not get off a decent shot.
"I didn't expect anything less than this," Montgomery said of the narrow escape. "It was a war."
Coach Henry Bibby was pleased with the play of the Trojans, who were led by Clancy's 16 points and Brian Scalabrine's 13.
"You saw how good we can be," Bibby said. "We took the No. 1 team to a six-second ball game. Other than not getting off the last shot, we played very well."
Stanford moves on to Pauley Pavilion, where the Cardinal will play 12th-ranked UCLA on Saturday and try to avenge their only loss of the season. The Bruins knocked the Cardinal out of the No. 1 spot for a while with a 79-73 victory at Stanford on Feb. 3.
"If we win on Saturday, it means we had a good weekend down here," Stanford point guard Michael McDonald said. "A split does nothing for us in terms of the Pac-10 championship, we didn't come down here for a split."
USC played Stanford tough in their earlier meeting this season, Feb. 1 at Maples Center. The Trojans led 57-54 with 7:05 left and were behind by only a point in the final two minutes before the Cardinal pulled away to win 77-71.
USC had spent most of the season ranked in the Top 25, rising as high as 12th early in December. But the Trojans dropped out of the rankings the second week of February and have gone into a slump that included their worst home loss ever, a 105-61 defeat by Arizona.
The Trojans last beat a No. 1 team when they shocked UCLA 87-86 at Pauley Pavilion on March 6, 1970.
